MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Australia’s securities regulator has closed its investigation into former Rio Tinto Ltd executive Alan Davies over an alleged $10.5 million payment to a consultant in Guinea, citing insufficient evidence, according to a letter reviewed by Reuters.
Davies, formerly Rio’s Energy and Minerals chief executive, was fired in late 2016 after Rio Tinto became aware of emails https://www.reuters.com/article/us-rio-tinto-guinea-terminates-idUSKBN13B2Y4 from 2011 that referred to payments to the consultant in connection with its vast Simandou iron ore project in the West African nation.
“ASIC has concluded its investigation on the basis that there is insufficient evidence to establish to a court that there has been a breach of the law,” the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said in a letter addressed to Davies dated Oct. 19.
Davies, who said at the time there were no grounds for his termination, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rio Tinto and ASIC had no immediate comment.
(Reporting by Melanie Burton and Clare Denina in London; editing by Richard Pullin)
