The action has been compromised on the payment of the sum USD15 million as a civil penalty and the company did not admit or deny the allegations. No criminal charges were laid. The investigation was aided by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission, the Australian Federal Police and the United Kingdom’s Serious Fraud Office.

According to the agreement, Rio Tinto hired a French investment banker and close friend of a former senior Guinean government official as a consultant to help the company retain its mining rights in the Simandou mountain region in Guinea. The consultant began working on behalf of Rio Tinto without a written agreement defining the scope of his services or deliverables. Eventually the mining rights were retained and the consultant was paid USD10.5 million for his services, which Rio Tinto never verified.

The SEC’s investigation uncovered that the consultant, acting as Rio Tinto’s agent, offered and attempted to make an improper payment of at least USD822,000 to a Guinean government official in connection with the consultant’s efforts to help Rio Tinto retain its mining rights.

None of the payments to the consultant was accurately reflected in Rio Tinto’s books and records and the company failed to have sufficient internal accounting controls in place to detect or prevent the misconduct. The mine has not been developed by Rio Tinto.

Charles E. Cain, Chief of the SEC Division of Enforcement’s FCPA Unit said "Here, deficient controls were no match for managers determined to hire a consultant whose only ostensible qualification was a personal relationship with a senior government official."