China's Shanghai Number One Intermediate People's Court on March 29 convicted four Shanghai employees of Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto on charges of receiving bribes and obtaining commercial secrets, while the company also fired the employees.
Australian citizen Stern Hu and three Chinese colleagues, who admitted to accepting about $13.6 million in bribes from private steel mills, will do jail times ranging from seven years to fourteen years, international press sources said.
In a press release, Rio Tinto said that it is unable to comment on the charges regarding the obtaining of commercial secrets as it has not had the opportunity to consider the evidence submitted in closed court.
Commenting on the result, Rio Tinto CEO Sam Walsh said, "Receiving bribes is a clear violation of Chinese law and Rio Tinto's code of conduct, ‘The Way We Work'. We have been informed of the clear evidence presented in court that showed beyond doubt that the four convicted employees had accepted bribes. By doing this they engaged in deplorable behavior that is totally at odds with our strong ethical culture. In accordance with our policies we will terminate their employment."
The company said that the illegal activities were conducted wholly outside the company's systems as an internal investigation into the claims did not find such clues. "We will introduce any necessary additional measures and safeguards the review recommends and will spare no effort in doing everything we can to prevent any similar activity," Rio Tinto said.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, the charges against the employees, who have been detained since July 5, 2009, relate to receiving bribes and stealing commercial secrets.