CHINESE COMPANY ACCUSED

US JUSTICE DEPARTMENT says conglomerate set up bribes for oil contracts.

Patrick Ho flew to New York in fall 2014. His intention, according to the United States Justice Department, was to bribe African officials on behalf of a private Chinese conglomerate with global ambitions and enormous wealth.

In meetings at the United Natios, Mr.Ho, a former Hong Kong civil servant, laid the groundwork for millions of dollars of payments to the president of Chad and Uganda's foreign minister in exchange for oil rights in the two countries, federal prosecutors say.

The accusations against Mr. Ho, detailed in a criminal complaint filed in Manhattan, became public this week after officials charged him and Cheikh Gadio, a former Senegalese official who is said to have-

Acted as a fixer for Mr. HO with international money laundering and violations of the  Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Mr. Gadio was arrested on Friday and Mr. Ho on Saturday, the Justice Department said.

The complaint does not name the Chinese company Mr. Ho represented, but the specifics of the case make clear the company's identity :
CEFC China Energy company.

CEFC has risen suddenly from little known Chinese company to a major player in the global energy business, with investments in Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa.

In September, the Chinese conglomerate took a $9 billion stake in Rosneft, Russia's state-owned energy giant and a subject of sanctions by the United States.

Author Alexandra Stevenson adds that CEFC has played to China's geopolitical ambitions. It is among a small number of Chinese companies to receive Beijing's approval to chase splashy deals at a time-

When the government has mostly restricted overseas acquisitions. The investments have largely meshed with china's strategy of courting other countries through infrastructure and energy investment.