BREAKING NEWS: A Swiss commodities firm has agreed to pay $661 million to settle a “years-long bribery scheme involving high-level Ecuadoran officials.”

Geneva-based commodities trading firm Gunvor announced on Friday that it has reached a $661 million settlement with U.S. and Swiss prosecutors following convictions for bribery of foreign officials in connection with the petroleum industry in Ecuador.

The Swiss attorney general’s office stated that the company failed to implement “reasonable and necessary organizational measures” to prevent bribery by its employees in Ecuador over a four-year period starting in February 2013.

According to a statement from the U.S. Federal Court in Brooklyn, Judge Vitaliano ordered Gunvor to pay a criminal penalty exceeding $374 million and forfeit over $287 million in “ill-gotten gains.”

Gunvor acknowledged responsibility for the actions of certain former agents and employees and pleaded guilty in federal court in New York. The company stated that it ceased working with these individuals years ago, before becoming aware of the U.S. investigation.

Swiss prosecutors revealed that the case involved payouts that influenced the state petroleum company Petroecuador to award two oil-related contracts to Gunvor. U.S. authorities reported that the Geneva commodities trader earned profits exceeding $384 million from the corruptly obtained business related to the Ecuadorian oil company.

Previously, U.S. authorities secured convictions in New York of four individuals who pleaded guilty to money laundering-related charges, including former Gunvor consultants Antonio Pere Ycaza and Enrique Pere Ycaza, former Gunvor employee and agent Raymond Kohut, and Nilsen Arias Sandoval, a former senior Petroecuador official.

FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Jeffrey Veltri stated that Gunvor’s years-long bribery scheme involving high-level Ecuadoran officials undermined the business environment and eroded public trust in their government. He acknowledged significant cooperation from authorities in various countries.

Gunvor was founded by oil traders Gennady Timchenko of Russia and Torbjörn Törnqvist of Sweden decades ago. Timchenko divested his holdings in the firm and sold his shares to Törnqvist in 2014 amid concerns that sanctions would be imposed against him due to his connection to Russia’s war in Ukraine.