Trafigura deliberately poisoned Ivory Coast

"The managers of Trafigura were aware that waste dumped in Ivory Coast in 2006 was toxic and should not have been exported," reveals De Volkskrant, which has gained access to internal emails and other confidential documents in support of charges against the Amsterdam oil products dealer.

The charges relate to an incident in which a ship chartered by the company, the Probo Koala, discharged toxic sludge in an open dump in Abidjan, killing 17 people and poisoning several thousand others. "The director and co-founder of Trafigura, Claude Dauphin, was personally involved in devising the plan to get rid of the waste," explains the Dutch daily.

In the court case, which is now in progress, charges against him have been dropped, and Trafiguera is about to conclude compensation deal, which will pay out more than 100 million to 30,000 victims of the incident. "In view of this settlement, it appears that court will not bother to pursue any further charges," regrets De Volkskrant.