In December 2023, the Swiss federal prosecutor's office charged Trafigura Group and three defendants, including its former Chief Operating Officer Mike Wainwright, for allegedly paying bribes of more than $5 million via a network of intermediaries to an Angolan official to win oil deals from 2009-2011.

The prosecution argued that Trafigura, through its unit Trafigura Beheer BV, failed to take necessary organisational measures to prevent the payment of bribes.

Trafigura argued in court that the anti-bribery and anti-corruption controls and the compliance programme in place at the time at its parent company met legal requirements and good practice standards.

Wainwright's lawyers have said he rejects all the allegations against him and is confident the case will be dismissed. Wainwright and Trafigura’s lawyers have meanwhile argued that the case is built on unreliable testimony and have also pointed to the failure to indict or call for the testimony of two of the executives who allegedly ran the scheme so that they could face cross-examination.

In December 2024, the prosecution asked for a 4-year jail sentence for Wainwright and $156 million in compensation and penalties from the company. A verdict is expected in 2025. Prosecutors also sought a three-year sentence for a former Trafigura employee who is also a defendant in the case, of which half must be served. They asked for 54 months for the former Angolan official who allegedly received the bribes.