Norwegian prosecutors on Monday indicted two Norwegian citizens and a Norwegian company for allegedly paying bribes in the Republic of the Congo in exchange for offshore oil drilling rights.

Authorities announced that the individuals and oil company Hemla Africa Holding, subsidiary of Norwegian oil group Petronor E&P, were indicted of gross corruption and gross accounting violations. Defendants allegedly paid millions in bribes to Congo President Denis Sassou Nguesso and members of his family when applying for an offshore oil license in 2016. Prosecutor Marianne Djupesland told local media that the alleged arrangement would also grant President Nguesso and his family a quarter of oil sales income generated by the awarded license.

Petronor denied the accusations and said it “welcomes the opportunity to have the case thoroughly examined in court.”

Norway is obligated under the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)’s Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions to investigate and prosecute individuals and companies implicated in foreign bribery cases. However, the nations lacks jurisdiction over the recipients of the bribes. Norwegian criminal law prescribes fines and prison sentences of up to 10 years for grand corruption bribery.

The case is the latest grand corruption scheme involving a Western company and an African head of state. Grand corruption refers to the abuse of high-level power to benefit a small group of people at the expense of the national public. It often involves officials who misuse public resources or manipulate contracts for personal gain.

Norway is Europe’s largest oil producer, with production primarily concentrated in the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea. However, Petronor holds exploration and production assets of the Congo coast, and its subsidiary Hemla Africa Holding owns a 20 percent interest in the PNGF Sud licenses, an oil production asset.

Norway has previously faced scrutiny from the OECD regarding its investigation of transnational bribery and anti-corruption measures. The OECD welcomed the country’s increasing efforts to enforce the convention on combating bribery of foreign officials but also recommended that authorities implement measures to allow the confiscation of bribery proceeds from companies.

Several members of President Sassou Nguesso’s family have been previously implicated in corruption cases. In 2022, French authorities charged the president’s daughter with money laundering and misuse of public funds, while his son has faced accusations of accepting bribes from oil companies and involvement in embezzlement cases.