AMSTERDAM, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Oil trader Vitol is under investigation in the Netherlands, the public prosecutor's office said on Friday, confirming a report by Dutch investigative news site Follow The Money (FTM).

FTM on Thursday reported that the prosecutors' office was investigating alleged bribery in Kazakhstan.

Neither the prosecutors' office nor the company would confirm the focus of the probe.

A spokesperson for the prosecutor's office said an investigation had been launched but could not reveal its "nature or scope".

Vitol also confirmed it had been contacted by "a Dutch authority regarding certain historic activities in Kazakhstan" and said it would cooperate. However, it said the FTM report contains inaccuracies.

The FTM report linked the investigation to a fine levied in 2021 on Dutch trust office JTC, which oversaw a holding company containing Vitol companies active in Central Asia.

The fine, issued by the Dutch central bank, was for failure to properly disclose suspicious transactions to a consultant in Kazakhstan in 2018.

Vitol, a major player in Kazakhstan's oil market, held a minority stake in the holding company JTC oversaw, but was not fined or named in the matter at the time.

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https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/dutch-authorities-confirm-vitol-probe-after-ftm-report-2024-08-23/