A new investigation by Swiss watchdog Public Eye has revealed that the Geneva offices of Totsa, the trading arm of French oil giant TotalEnergies, were searched in 2024 as part of an ongoing probe into suspected bribery linked to oil imports in The Gambia.
The search was carried out at the request of France’s financial crimes prosecutor, the Parquet National Financier (PNF), which has been examining allegations that the company may have been involved in corrupt dealings tied to a long-standing fuel supply arrangement in the country.
At the centre of the case is Mohammad Bazzi, a businessman with close ties to former Gambian president Yahya Jammeh. From 2004 to at least 2014, Bazzi controlled a monopoly over petroleum imports into The Gambia through his company, Euro African Group Limited (EAGL), at a time when the country relied entirely on imported fuel.
Investigations indicate that EAGL operated with margins of around 17 percent above market prices, placing a heavy financial strain on the state-owned National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC) and contributing to the high cost of energy faced by ordinary Gambians. Public Eye reports that Bazzi sourced petroleum products from TotalEnergies and its Geneva-based subsidiary Totsa, which benefited from this exclusive arrangement for more than a decade.
Following the end of Jammeh’s rule in 2017, a Commission of Inquiry set up by the new government found that Bazzi’s monopoly amounted to a “favoured status” sustained through “direct bribery and other corrupt practices.” The commission also pointed to payments of about 10 million US dollars made by EAGL for the benefit of Jammeh.
The French investigation was reportedly opened in 2021 after a complaint by Transparency International France, focusing on suspected bribery of a foreign public official. In February 2024, Swiss authorities carried out a search of Totsa’s offices in Geneva at the request of French prosecutors. The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland has confirmed it is executing a request for mutual legal assistance, although no criminal proceedings have been initiated in Switzerland.
Bazzi has already faced international sanctions. In 2018, the United States designated him for allegedly financing Hezbollah, and in 2024 he was convicted of attempting to circumvent those sanctions.
