ENRC shares drop 5% following SFO investigation

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 5th, 2012 at 9:39 am

Following an investigation from the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), shares in the Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) have fallen 5% – the biggest drop of any of the FTSE 100 fallers.

The allegations made against the ENRC concern SSGPO, a division of the company. It is claimed that money went missing from the Kazakh iron ore mining subsidiary. According to The Sunday Times, the Serious Fraud Office has also asked the ENRC to hand over details of an investigation into the company’s operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Times also reported that the ENRC had investigated claims of financial irregularities at its Kazakh operations back in August – it is not clear if these irregularities concerned corporate fraud.

A spokesperson for the ENRC has stated that there is no ‘formal’ investigation into the company. According to the spokesperson, the ENRC is investigating the allegations internally, but is involved in “liaison with appropriate regulators, including the SFO.” The Guardian reported that ENRC had called in lawyers to look into the claims.

The allegations come at a time when the eurozone is facing a financial crisis and the SFO – the government department set with the task of investigating serious and corporate fraud – is yet to find anything conclusive.

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