The oil and gas company Perenco is in the crosshairs in France of several preliminary investigations opened for corruption of foreign public officials, particularly in the African countries where it is based, we learned on Thursday from sources close to the investigation.
Within the framework of these procedures, the Parisian facilities of the Franco-British company were searched by investigators from the Central Office for the Fight against Financial and Fiscal Offenses (Oclciff), in charge of the investigations, these sources added, confirming information from Challenges.
The sources, however, did not specify the number of open investigations, their opening dates, the target countries and the date of the search.
15th French fortune
Consulted by AFP, the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) declined to comment.
Founded by the Breton businessman Hubert Perrodo, the company, not listed on the stock market and therefore unknown, has made his family the 15th French fortune, according to the 2022 ranking of Challenges magazine.
With 6,000 employees and around 500,000 declared barrels/day, Perenco is a small player in the global oil and gas sector, present in 15 foreign countries.
It is the only company operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where its subsidiaries operate 11 oil fields off the Muanda coast.
At the beginning of November, the two French NGOs Friends of the Earth and Sherpa took it to court to obtain its conviction for the environmental damage caused by its drilling in the DRC.
Perenco has activities in three other African countries, Gabon, Congo and Cameroon.
Source: BFM TV
