The African nation at the centre of Rio Tinto's payment scandal, the Republic of Guinea, has demanded answers from the mining company over its decision to sack two executives this week, as a former minister claimed he was offered a bribe by a Rio employee.
Rio sacked energy and minerals boss Alan Davies and legal affairs executive Debra Valentine on Thursday in response to revelations that Mr Davies had allegedly sought a $US10.5 million payment to a political adviser in Guinea named Francois de Combret.
Leaked emails show Mr Davies telling former chief executive Sam Walsh that Mr de Combret had "very unique and unreplaceable services and closeness to the President" of Guinea, and had helped Rio to secure its tenure over mining leases at the giant Simandou iron ore project in the developing nation.
Guinea's minister of mines and geology, Abdoulaye Magassoub, issued a statement on Friday urging Rio to clarify any wrongdoing.
"As the country caught in the middle of this boardroom drama at Rio Tinto, we need answers," he said in the statement.
"The government of Guinea is demanding a full account from Rio Tinto of any wrongdoing identified in the company's dealings with the Republic of Guinea."
But Mr Magassoub's statement was overshadowed late on Friday when his predecessor Mahmoud Thiam claimed he was offered a bribe in 2010 by Rio's top executive in Guinea at the time, Steven Din.
"Rio offered to pay me off," Mr Thiam told Bloomberg.
Mr Din denied making the offer, saying that his meetings with Mr Thiam around that time were to give the minister an update about a pending merger.
"I refute anything like that," said Mr Din, who now works for a subsidiary of Indian miner Vedanta.
Ironically, Vedanta's current chief executive is Tom Albanese, who was Rio chief executive when the alleged payment to Mr de Combret was discussed and when Mr Thiam claims he was offered a bribe.
"Rio Tinto has an ethical standard. Irrespective of operating in certain countries those ethical standards are always upheld," said Mr Din in an interview with Bloomberg.
Code of conduct
Rio sold its stake in Simandou to Chinalco last month, but still has a stake in a bauxite operation in Guinea.
Mr Magassoub said Rio's decision to sack its two executives raised legal and ethical concerns.
"Statements to the media from Rio Tinto have suggested that Francois Polge de Combret was in the pay of Rio Tinto during high-level negotiations between the company and the Guinean government," said Mr Magassoub in the statement.
"Mr de Combret was at the time acting in a capacity that would have given him access to highly confidential information. It raises both legal and ethical concerns if, as media reports suggest, Mr de Combret was passing on privileged information in return for large amounts of money."
The comments come just days after Guinean president Alpha Conde issued a statement saying the government had not known of Mr de Combret's relationship with Rio.
The Rio board decided to sack the two executives on Thursday morning Australian time, despite the fact that investigations by fraud and securities authorities in the US, UK and Australia have barely started.
The board decided that an internal investigation had shown the executives had not complied with Rio's staff code of conduct, and that was deemed sufficient to dismiss the pair.
Mr Davies broke his silence soon after his sacking, saying he had not been given a chance to defend himself and insisting there were no grounds for his sacking.
Court challenge likely
"This treatment of me and my past and recent colleagues is totally at variance with the values and behaviours of the company to which I have devoted my professional life," he said in a statement this week.
Mr Davies is expected to challenge his sacking in the courts.
- with Bloomberg
