Three sentenced in Angola bribery case

Three former employees of Bertling’s UK arm were sentenced on Friday for bribing a Sonangol agent in London.

Joerg Blumberg, Dirk Juergensen and Marc Schweiger were each sentenced to 20 months with a two-year suspension, fined GBP 20,000 and disqualified as company directors for five years. The three men had been convicted of conspiracy to make corrupt payments earlier in the year for payments made to a Sonangol agent for a USD 20-million contract. 

“[This crime] causes significant environmental impact and deprives the community, especially in developing countries of proper and honest business transactions and undermines international relations. It deprives others of the opportunity for advancement,” the judge, HHJ Pegden said. “Each [defendant] played a significant role in the fraudulent activity, which required discussion and planning and was pursued for a year in total for the company’s financial gain.”

Additional sentencings in the case are planned for September 2018.