Jordan’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) plans to refer a case of suspected corruption in Jordan Phosphate Mines Company (JPMC) to court as part of the re-nationalisation of the fertiliser minerals group, according to Jordan Times.

Amman sold a 37 per cent stake in the company to Brunei government investment vehicle JPMC in 2006, but opposition groups and activists believe the privatisation process has stripped the country of one of its key business assets.

ACC has been investigating alleged corruption since the privatisation, with the public shareholding firm’s CEO Walid al-Kurdi as a main suspect, the newspaper reported.

Jordan is the world’s sixth largest producer of phosphate rock, an essential mineral in the production of several fertilisers.