SFO settles ENRC's $290 million lawsuit in secret deal, raising transparency concerns
The Serious Fraud Office has reached a confidential settlement with Kazakh mining firm ENRC, ending a $290 million damages claim with no public disclosure of the terms.
SFO and ENRC end $290 million damages battle with closed-doors settlement
The Serious Fraud Office has reached a confidential settlement with the Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation to bring the Kazakh mining company's protracted legal action to a close, Google News UK — Crime (en) reports, citing Spotlight on Corruption. The terms of the agreement have not been disclosed, leaving the public with no clear picture of how much of the $290 million in damages ENRC had been pursuing will be paid by the agency.
The settlement marks the latest chapter in a years-long confrontation between the SFO and ENRC that has drawn in the law firm Dechert, individual SFO officers, and journalists who had reported on suspected corruption in the company's mining operations. ENRC — founded in 1994 by a trio described as ex-Soviet oligarchs and now reportedly financed by sanctioned Russian banks — was suspected of paying bribes to win lucrative mining contracts in the Democratic Republic of Congo during the period it was listed on the London Stock Exchange as a former FTSE 100 constituent.
The SFO's criminal investigation into ENRC suffered a decisive setback in 2023, when the High Court ruled the agency had opened its probe only after inducing ENRC's own lawyer to disclose confidential information he had no authority to share. The SFO subsequently abandoned its decade-long investigation, citing "insufficient admissible evidence to prosecute" ENRC.
ENRC's sustained and well-resourced legal campaign has prompted concerns about a chilling effect on the SFO and other agencies responsible for pursuing large corporations and wealthy suspects. Despite having placed the SFO on the defensive through repeated lawsuits — including allegations of "misfeasance in public office" — ENRC has never been required to answer the underlying corruption allegations before a court.
The deal announced this week is the second confidential agreement the SFO has reached with the mining company. The first, concluded in October 2024, allowed the agency and two of its staff members to avoid a trial over claims that sensitive investigative material had been leaked to the media and to third parties. The latest settlement also involves Dechert, the law firm accused of passing on unauthorised information during the original investigation.
The more substantial damages claim — the subject of a lengthy High Court trial held in April this year — has now been resolved before a judgment could be handed down. With the settlement in place, the court will issue no ruling on the merits of that claim.
The financial exposure involved remains opaque. ENRC had sought more than $290 million in combined damages from the SFO and Dechert. However, the SFO's most recent annual report set aside £15 million in legal costs for the ENRC litigation, describing that sum as reflecting "management's best estimate of the liability payable by SFO." Whether that figure corresponds to the amount ultimately agreed remains unclear, as no official confirmation has been provided.
Spotlight on Corruption, which has monitored the case closely, states that "guesswork is no substitute for transparency" and calls for parliament to require the SFO to open its accounts to public scrutiny so that taxpayers can establish the full cost of the settlement.
The case has broader implications for how UK enforcement bodies handle corporate corruption investigations. ENRC's legal strategy — deploying well-funded litigation to pressure the SFO at every stage — has been cited as a template that could deter future investigations into multinational companies with the resources to sustain prolonged court battles. The outcome, sealed behind a confidentiality agreement, does nothing to resolve that concern.
Source: Google News UK — Crime (en)