Sable Mining Africa probes bribery and corruption reports

26th May 2016 11:22

(ShareCast News) - Sable Mining Africa, the company founded by ex-England spin bowler Phillipe-Henri Edmonds, has confirmed it is investigating allegations of bribery and corruption made against the company in Liberia.The AIM-listed, sub-Sahara-focused outfit, run by Edmonds and longtime business partner Andrew Groves, said it was taking "appropriate legal advice" on the matters after recent media comment and speculation regarding the issue.According to a report released by anti-corruption campaign group Global Witness, the company and its lawyers paid $250,000 in "bribes" to African officials in 2010 as well as casting aspersions about the purchases of assets owned by secretive offshore vehicles.Edmonds and Groves have already said they "strenuously deny any wrongdoing" and Jim Cochrane, who succeeded the ex cricketer as chairman in 2014, said earlier this month that no evidence had been found."Sable is committed to ensuring that its business is conducted in a responsible and ethical manner and that any breaches in internal anti-bribery policies and procedures will result in disciplinary action," he said. "Although many of the issues raised by Global Witness were subject to internal review a number of years ago, they have prompted a further review of all of these matters. We have found no evidence to support or justify this attack on the company or its directors, past and present."Edmonds and Groves' ventures have been embroiled in different sorts of controversy before. AIM-listed Camec, backed by funds from hedge fund Och-Ziff Capital Management, made a $100m cash payment to Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe administration, which the company argued was a loan "to comply with its contractual obligations" to secure platinum claims in the country, though the funds proved vital for the notorious and at the time cash-starved leader to fight back from early defeats and remain in power.The year before, White Nile, yet another of the pair's outfits, discovered its much trumpeted Block Ba oilfield in southern Sudan was in fact owned by oil major Total.Shares in Sable, having stumbled from 20p to 0.5p at the start of the month, fell to a new low below 0.3p on Thursday, before rebounding to 0.4p just after 1130 BST.