Claim: Novartis Paid $2.5 Million Ransom to Colombia Rebels
Novartis paid $2.5 million to Colombia rebels who had kidnapped two Novartis employees, according to a documentary on French TV.
The issue is a controversial one in Switzerland, where Novartis is based, because the Colombian government had accused a Swiss negotiator of paying the ransom, and then banned the Swiss from participating in negotiations with armed rebels. The new documentary says the negotiator, Jean-Pierre Gontard, merely opened up channels with the FARC rebels and that it was Novartis that paid the money.
Novartis paid a total of $2.5 million in 2001 to the same rebel group that kidnapped Ingrid Betancourt, a French-Colombian politician, in 2002.
Initially it was believed that the FARC group had received $500,000 from Gontard, but the new doc states the money was five time greater than that.
Novartis declined to comment “legal reasons.” The hostages were eventually released.
Jim Edwards, a former managing editor of Adweek, has covered drug marketing at Brandweek for four years, and is a former Knight-Bagehot fellow at Columbia University's business and journalism schools. Follow him on Twitter or send him an email.
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