Dr. Tunji Braithwaite; the dogged revolutionary, Humanist and Hero of the people passed on March 28 2016. Join us, as we celebrate the life and revolutionary legacies of a Quintessential Icon.
Halliburton: Nigerian leaders are bribe takers
*Can Buhari prosecute his friends indicted in the scandal?
*Obasanjo, Abdulsalam, Atiku, PDP, Dan Etete, Chris Garuba, Gauis Obaseki runs in the mill
By Olajide Fashikun with Agency reports
Ayodeji, Chukwujekwu and Modibbo are friends. With the re-introduction of “Nigerian History” to the secondary school curriculum were taught by their teacher, Mrs. Florence Akume, gave a teaser of the next week’s lesson that, ‘Nigerian leaders are bribe takers’. The nationalistic fervor took the better part of them. The argument went to and fro. They went into the library both in hardcopy and online and found out three former presidents: Generals Olusegun Obasanjo, Sani Abacha, Abdulsalam Abubakar and Atiku Abubakar were listed among an A-list of the nations political and business elite in a scandal called Haliburton.
Shocked. Petrified. Angry. They read and met in the evening before games in their boarding house regimen. Modibbo squealed at
Ayodeji, “they received millions of dollars in bribes from American and European contractors that were retained to build Africa’s first liquefied natural gas plant in Bonny, Rivers State.”
Chukwujekwu said in his own finding. Another General who came with Daniel had the sword of justice and a gavel, his name was written as Muhammadu Buhari. Records before his court of judgement was a vast and formalised bribery scheme. It had a long list of ministers, bureaucrats, top politicians, state and local officials. Former oil minister Dan Etete led the second grade list.
Welcome to HSBC, the bribe bank: Leaked records from HSBC, a huge global bank based in London, reveal new details about the bank’s role as the conduit for the bribes — and new details about how Tesler operated. The files, obtained by the French newspaper Le Monde and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, show ties between Tesler and high-ranking Nigerians not previously named publicly in connection with the scandal, raising the possibility of renewed questions about Nigeria’s handling of the affair.
Cast of criminal characters: The leaders who were saddled with the nation’s interests received stacks of US dollar bills in briefcases bullion vans depending on where they stood in the hierarchy of the dirty Dollars.
Some got their payoffs via electronic bank transfers from financial institutions. One of such named is Citibank.
These are supposed to be eminent Nigerians. They accepted, N27 billion in bribes from the American oil service companies. Halliburton anchored the deal in exchange for billions of
dollars in contracts to build our liquefied natural gas plant.
American investigation: Chukwujekwu read also that the American government pursued their own citizens and corporations, especially, the oil services company Halliburton. Some went to jail. Some got the funds confiscated. Halliburton agreed to pay $579 million in fines and many of its agents attended long jail terms.
Before Buhari, the Americans made their findings available to Nigerian authorities. Nothing was done to pursue, investigate, prosecute or sanction those indicted in this scandal. Officials of government rather justified their filthy reputation as probably, the world’s leading cesspit and theatre for corruption and unrestrained graft.
How did it all started? Dateline was 1994, bids were submitted to build Africa’s first liquefied natural gas plant in Bonny, Rivers State, at a cost of $6 billion.
A joint venture company, TSKJ, formed in equal partnership between a French engineering company, Technip; an Italian engineering company, Snamprogetti; a US engineering company, KBR, of the Halliburton group and the Japanese engineering and construction company, JGC was
formed. Between these four companies, the designed a product called “amplified corruption” which they exported to Nigeria. Customs could not stop them. They unleashed it and pronto! Tsunamic magnitude of unknown official corruption was delivered bigger than the size of` the gas plant. They knew these Nigerians cannot resist being corrupted.
As soon as TSKJ was formed, it set up three companies registered in Madeira, Portugal to recruit two “consulting companies,” Tri-Star Investment Ltd, and Marubeni Inc, with the
mandate to undertake the bribe scheme of the Nigerians. Their mandate was to reach “officials of the executive branch of government, NNPC and NLNG officials, and political party leaders,” according to a sealed indictment filed at the United States District Court in Houston, Texas.
Three early decisions taken by TSKJ were: hiring a British lawyer, Jeffery Tesler, to coordinate the affairs of TriStar; signing up Wojciech Chodan, an American deal maker resident in the UK to assist him and contracting Messrs Matsuda, Endo, and Lida to run Marubeni.
According to the court deposition of Mr. Tesler, in a clinical application of the principles of division of labour, TSKJ mandated the Tri-Star team, which it disingenuously called “cultural advisors,” to focus only on bribing the “senior level officials”, while the Marubeni team was instructed to restrict itself to bribing the “lower level Nigerian officials.”
While Tristar was incorporated in Gibraltar and had a budget of $130 million; Marubeni, was incorporated in Japan, she had a budget of $50 million.
Bribery in a customary manner
Sani Abacha, Nigeria’s late Head of State, was the first significant point of contact for the TSKJ team, according to lawyers of the United States department of justice, who claimed in court depositions that, in August 1994, the CEO of KBR, Albert Jackson Stanley and top executives of TSKJ struck an agreement with Abacha “to do business in a customary manner.”
Towards this end, a “cultural committee” of the sales and senior personnel officers of the four joint venture companies, as well as agents of Marubeni was put together to “consider how to implement, but hide, the scheme to pay bribes” to Nigerian officials.
The “cultural committee” in October 1994 worked out a programme of what it called “the downloading and offloading of payments through subcontractors and vendors.”
According to the U. S. Department of Justice, once a plan of how to distribute the bribes and a scheme to evade US bank monitors were resolved, the “cultural committee” gave Mr. Tesler the green light to meet the then petroleum minister, Dan Etete, to discuss and agree on the modalities.
This meeting held on the 2nd November 1994, when Mr. Tesler handed Mr. Etete the bribe schema to secure Train 1 and Train 2 of the Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) contract.
It was made clear that $60 million was available to be shared. Out of this, $40 million would go to Abacha, while others would have to scramble for the remaining $20million.
A cultural committee to manage the graft
Keeping faith with the grand plan of the cultural committee, Mr. Stanley, the CEO of KBR, who was handpicked for this job by former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, rushed to Abuja three weeks after the 2nd November meeting , to confirm if Abacha was comfortable with Tesler as a go-between.
Once this was understood on both sides, a series of decisions was made ahead of the signing of the Train 1 and Train 2 contracts.
In January 1995, Chodan and Stanley agreed to exclude any US citizens from participating in the bribe scheme. In March of the same year, TSKJ formally signed the $60 million contract with TriStar.
Furthermore, in December, TSKJ paid TriStar $1.5 million as commission for its “services,” and in April 1996, TSKJ formally signed a $29 million contract with Marubeni to settle the “lower level Nigerian officials.”
According to filings in the Houston District court, by the time the Train 1 and Train 2 contracts had been signed, Mr.Tesler himself wired $63,000 into a Swiss account of Mr. Etete.
French police prosecutors have determined that around the same time, in order to cover up his tracks, he also opened negotiations with Etete to purchase five per cent of the then minister’s holding in the OPL 245 Malibu oil block.
For this deal, Mr. Tesler wired a total of $2.5 million into the accounts of the former minister through the TriStar accounts.
Mr. Etete used three different names, according to the deposition, his personal name or Buzaki Etete, or one Omoni Amafegha, who Mr. Tesler told the French Court was a listed name on the board of Malibu.
Dele Adesina, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and Mr. Etete’s lawyer in respect of the Malabu oil block licence which the Obasanjo administration revoked in 1999, would not comment on this matter when asked.
He said: “I was only retained with respect of the revocation of the Malabu block; I have absolutely no knowledge of Mr. Tesler.”
Mr. Tesler’s brief was to make sure things moved smoothly. A key challenge at this point was unfettered access to Abacha at that time, and as he told French investigators, the man who made this possible was the former Inspector General of Police, M. D. Yusuf, who later became Chairman of the NLNG.
Mr. Tesler claimed he “downloaded $75,000 in two installments” into Yusuf’s pocket for this purpose. Information on the former policeman’s involvement in the TSKJ scandal, is not new.
In 2004, a House of Representatives Committee headed by Chudi Offodile investigated the NLNG contract, it found out that Mr. Yusuf as NLNG chairman acted improperly in favour of TSKJ.
Petroleum minister at the time, Don Etiebet, had sought to ensure fair play in the contract bid between TSKJ, and the only other competitor, BCSA.
It “appeared that a decision had been taken even before the Board meeting of 24th September 1994″ that determined the contract, the Offodile report stated.
What happened after Trains 1 and 2? Having put the Train 1 and 2 contracts in the can, TSKJ turned its gaze on the Train 3 contract. For this, Stanley flew to Abuja again in the second quarter of 1997, with the sole mission of asking Abacha to recommend a trusted front man to collect his bribe.
Shortly after he died on the 8th June, 1998, Tesler promptly erased him from the list of bribe beneficiaries, substituting him with the new helmsman, Abdulsalami Abubakar.
To keep the entire scheme on the rails, Stanley flew back to Abuja on the 28th February 1999, asking General Abubakar, to recommend a trusted front man to collect his bribe.
The 1999 election fever spreads cold: With an election already fixed for May 1999, TSKJ was anxious to wrap up the Train 3 contract before a change of power in Abuja.
Another meeting was held in London on the 5th March 1999, to come up with a strategy to achieve this objective.
One week after, TSKJ won the Train 3 contract for $1.2 billion. On the 18th March, 1999, TSKJ paid a kickback of $32.5 million into TriStar’s account, to bribe the Nigerian officials who facilitated the award of the contract.
Even though “the lower class officials” were eventually catered for in the bribe scheme, they always got the short end of the stick.
Thus, while the senior Nigerian officials had their bribes promptly paid, it took one year after TSKJ had signed the Train 3 contract before Marubeni lined the pockets of the lower class officials.
Computing the pay-offs up to January 2001, American prosecutors believe that a $2.5 million bribe was “off loaded” directly to the Swiss account of Abubakar’s frontman.
After the transition to civil rule in 1999, the United States Department of Justice attorneys stated that Mr. Stanley met with the new President, Olusegun Obasanjo and the then Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Gauis Obaseki, in Abuja on 11th November, 2001, to designate “a representative with whom the joint venture [TSKJ] should negotiate the [obligatory] bribes in support of the award of the [forthcoming] Trains 4 and 5 contracts.”
One month later, on the 20th December in London, Obaseki met Chodan and Stanley over lunch, to discuss the details of the Trains 4 and 5 contracts.
On Christmas Eve, TSKJ signed a $51 million deal with TriStar, to bribe Nigerian officials for the Trains 4 and 5 contracts.
Three months later, in March 2002, TSKJ won the Train 4 and 5 contract for $3.6 billion.
Taking care of the political big boys
Following the signing of contracts for Trains 4 and 5, all seemed to be going well between the new administration and TSKJ.
June 2002 would turn out to be a significant month in this narrative of sleaze between TSKJ and Nigerian government officials.
That month, TSKJ signed another $25 million contract with Marubeni to settle the bribes of the low cadre officials for the Trains 4 and 5 of the NLNG project.
It also signed a $23 million contract with TriStar to bribe the top officials for the Train 6 project.
The former NNPC’s GMD’s message to the meeting, according to Mr. Tesler’s indictment papers, was that the time had come to bring in the political boys.
Even PDP gods too took bribe: Apparently, the ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are the gods whose worship sites needs libations before they know of the scheme and get angry, thus, they needed to be appeased.
Indictment records from both the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the United States attorneys showed that in August 2002, Mr. Tesler wired $5 million to the account of a Port Harcourt based sub-contractor named Intels Energy Limited.
The money was received in the company’s account with Citibank Nigeria.
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and the late Shehu Musa Yar’Adua are alleged to have substantial interests in Intels Energy Limited. Intels, according to our investigations, was the key sub contractor for Marubeni in bribing the lower level officials of the NNPC and NLNG.
Bullion van bribery
Both the Department of Justice and the Security and Exchange Commission’s attorneys, corroborated each other’s claim that $1million in $100 bills was deposited “to the NNPC official” at the NICON Hilton Hotel in a “pilot’s briefcase” for onward delivery to the PDP before the 2003 general elections.
The remaining $4 million was, according to the court filings, delivered in Naira in a bullion van.
Audu Ogbe who was the PDP chairman at the time denied any knowledge of this and loudly called for an investigation.
Titanic-sized corruption: The intricate planning, the massive scale and the careful sophistication of TSKJ’s clinical web of corruption is certainly titanic in size. It’s capacity can be appreciated because the fingers of three successive heads of state with a VeePee in tow, coupled with the elaborate scheme to set up legalised corrupting agencies for lower and senior officials, stands out in the annals of official corruption in Nigeria.
The greed of the Nigerian ruling class was identified, reworked and exploited. It was broken down into its constituent parts: political, bureaucratic and technocratic so as to isolate the beneficiaries of the graft.
TSKJ came fully prepared and well primed to sustaining this code named scheme over the decade it would take to come to fruition.
The multijurisdictional impact of the corruption is still unprecedented in Nigeria. Question is, can Muhammadu Buhari’s administration rein in on the actors of the Halliburton Nollywood film Season VI? Given the roles of these actors in the emergence of his Presidency.
I regret my corrupting tendencies: “There is no day when I do not regret my weakness of character,” said the contrite British lawyer, Jeffery Tesler, in a Houston courtroom. His reverberating voice cooed: “I allowed myself to accept standards of behaviour in a business culture which can never be justified. I accepted the system of corruption that existed in Nigeria. I turned a blind eye to what was happening, and I am guilty of the offenses charged.”
He spoke at the end of his 2012 sentence and hearing after pleading guilty to U.S. corruption charges for his role in the Halliburton bribery scandal. In 2010 Nigeria indicted former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, who was CEO of Halliburton before he was elected, only to later clear him when Halliburton worked out a $35 million settlement.
What Halliburton represents in Nigeria: To an average Nigerian, converting the bribe sum into the bastardised local currency, Naira, makes the whole episode a massive but seemingly unbelievable story. There is no doubt however that, in terms of the personalities and the amount of money involved in Halliburton, it is probably the biggest scandal in Nigeria’s history of corruption and bribery.
The leaked HSBC files reveal that Tesler had financial ties to two former Nigerian officials: now-retired Major General Chris Garuba, chief of staff to former Nigerian president Abdulsalami Abubakar who himself allegedly received bribes as president; and Andrew Agom, a senior government official who was killed in an attack on a motorcade.
Bank staff also responded to a request from Agom’s widow to unfreeze her husband’s account, whose post was sent to Tesler’s North London law firm and which was marked as subject to criminal investigations into Tesler. The files do not indicate whether or not the account was ultimately unfrozen.
Garuba, a former governor of Bauchi state, emerged as the chairman of Obekpa Petroleum, a Nigerian oil company. Before his death, Agom was a board member of the People’s Democratic Party, which controlled the government when this affair unfolded.
Agom was the beneficial owner of an HSBC account linked to a Gibraltar-based company, Hemisphere Services Limited, which held a maximum amount of $797,377 at one point in 2006 or 2007. Africa Confidential magazine previously named a company named Hemisphere Services (Nigeria) as a “recipient of largesse” from Tesler after viewing documents disclosed to the magazine during a French corruption investigation.
Agom’s account was opened in 1991, on the same day that an account was opened in the name of former Nigerian Air Force Chief, Abdullahi Dominic Bello. A Nigerian government investigator has previously described Swiss accounts held by Bello as a conduit for “slush funds”. The investigator did not specifically mention HSBC.
A spokesman for Bello told ICIJ that the account, which was used for business purposes and opened by Tesler when he was Bello’s lawyer, had never been used for slush funds or bribes. “At no point has Mr. Bello been charged to any court over the bribery scandal,” said the spokesman, adding that, “it must be a coincidence that Mr. Agom and [Bello’s company] opened an account the same day.”
The HSBC files identify Chris Garuba and his wife Rita as HSBC clients; their names are listed along with Tesler’s in an account named Bridlington Enterprises Limited, for which Tesler acted as an attorney. The files show that the account was opened the year before Tesler sent his first bribe payment to Switzerland, although the files do not show that Tesler transferred money into the Bridlington account, which held as much as $367,547 in 2006 or 2007.
Chris and Rita Garuba did not respond to ICIJ’s requests for comment.
Tesler was sentenced to 21 months in prison and he forfeited $149 million from his Swiss accounts to the U.S. government for serving as the go-between for bribes paid to secure contracts for KBR, the former Halliburton subsidiary, and the other consortium members, the Japanese firm JGC Corporation, Paris-based Technip, as well as Italy’s ENI S.p.A. and its Dutch subsidiary Snamprogetti Netherlands B.V. The forfeited money is what the American government promised to pay the Buhari administration if the government will commence the prosecution of those who are indicted in the deal.
Obasanjo’s private meeting with Buhari: The increased pressure of the American government on the Buhari administration may have been responsible for the “private meeting” of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to President Muhmmadu Buhari during the week.
In previous years, anti-corruption campaigners had called on authorities to identify and prosecute Nigerian citizens involved in the scandal. A 2010 Nigerian government document reportedly included three Nigerian presidents, a vice-president, a minister, intelligence chiefs and corporate titans in the list of bribery beneficiaries. The report did not name Garuba nor Agom.
Before Tesler became a born-again: Between 2009 and 2011, the consortium members paid penalties totaling more than $1.5 billion for their role in the bribery scheme. Two KBR officials who had worked with Tesler, Wojciech Chodan and Albert (Jack) Stanley, KBR’s former chairman and CEO, were sentenced to one year of probation and 30 months in prison, respectively.
Cheney had been chairman and chief executive of Halliburton, the parent company of KBR, for five years — from 1995 to 2000 — before becoming U.S. vice-president in 2001.
Cheney’s lawyer has asserted repeatedly that his client was not involved. “The Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission investigated that joint venture extensively and found no suggestion of any impropriety by Dick Cheney in his role of CEO of Halliburton,” attorney Terrence O’Donnell wrote in a 2010 statement to the Associated Press.
Meanwhile, Tesler, now 66, has served his sentence and returned to England, where he told authorities he would “spend the last few years, which God may graciously grant me, to seek forgiveness.”
Culled from gongnews.net
Halliburton: How Abacha, Etete, others shared $180m – Report
ABUJA— FOLLOWING last week’s revelation by the United States’ Ambassador to Nigeria, Robin Sanders, that documents and evidence needed by the Nigerian authorities to prosecute culprits in the $180million Halliburton scandal have been made available, Vanguard can report authoritatively that the Federal Government has drawn up a list of indicted persons recommended for prosecution for allegedly sharing the bribe money.
The list includes such names as former Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal A. D. Bello alleged to have collected $15. 7million using his foreign account, for himself and a former military head of state; Alhaji Ibrahim Aliyu, elder brother of the Niger State governor and former federal permanent secretary alleged to have collected over $35million for himself and others including a former military head of state, and Alhaji Abdukadir Abacha, brother of late head of state also alleged to have collected $7million using his foreign firm as front.
Other names on the list are a former Minister of Petroleum, Chief Dan Etete, alleged to have collected $3. 5million, using his oil firm as front; former Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mr. Jackson Gaius Obaseki, alleged to have facilitated the collection of about $11million that was shared between Bodunde Adeyanju, former Special Assistant to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Minister of State for Defence, Lawal Batagarawa, and a frontline political party.
Also contained in the list was Alhaji Gidado Bakare of the defunct CITI Bank who was detained for over one month during investigation. He was alleged to have collected more than $60million for himself, a former military head of state and other prominent persons in the North.
Collection and disbursement of funds
Bakare was alleged to have used two companies in the collection and disbursements.
There are also names of two former board members of a construction giant, Mr. Mark George, who was alleged to have collected $6million from Mr. Jeffrey Tesler and helped transfer the money to two top shots of the frontline political party and a special assistant to a former head of state.
Vanguard gathered, however, that while Bodunde, allegedly agreed that he collected $6million from the construction giant, he told the panel that it had nothing to do with his former boss, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo but that he only handed the money over to Mallam Lawal Batagarawa.
It was learnt that Batagarawa, who earlier denied collecting any money from Bodunde, later allegedly accepted collecting the money but said it had noting to do with Obasanjo, and that the money was handed over to a party.
Vanguard also gathered, weekend, that Alhaji Abdulkadir Abacha, who had used delay tactics severally to skip being interrogated by the panel, finally appeared before it last month to state his role in the alleged sharing.
Another top shot who appeared before the panel and whose evidence Vanguard learnt has helped to clear a lot of grey areas, was a former Company Secretary of the Nigeria National Liquified Gas Company, who was allegedly privy to the signing of all the agreements and execution of the contract between the Nigerian government and representatives of Halliburton company.
Desperate effort to frustrate panel’s work
Further findings by Vanguard showed that evidences from the progress report available in the office of the Attorney General of the Federation have been found to corroborate those sent by the American government to the AGF’s. It was learnt that the former AGF, Michael Aondoakaa, deliberately tried to frustrate the panel’s work.
A source told Vanguard that following the passing of information on Halliburton to the authorities, the American government was waiting to see what the Acting President would do with the two reports. The issue is whether he will continue the fight against corruption of his boss, Yar’Adua, with his new Attorney General, Adoke, or sweep the findings under the carpet as Aondoakaa allegedly attempted.
Vanguard had earlier reported, that several months after the five-man panel concluded the Nigerian leg of its investigation and secured visas to travel abroad for the foreign leg of the investigation, officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, scuttled the travel arrangements made for the panel to travel to conclude the investigations.
They did so by ensuring that the briefs, questionnaires and information needed by the panel to do their work abroad, which were to be translated into Spanish, French, Latin and German, in accordance with procedure, were sat on for over six months, to the extent that the visas issued in October with a December 4 deadline, for panel members to travel expired with the panel still in Nigeria.
Consequently, it emerged that the trip abroad would not take place again thereby sending a sad message of lack of seriousness to the foreign countries that the government of Nigeria’s talk about unearthing the truth about the Halliburton scam was mere political talk.
The panel members were scheduled to travel to France, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Germany for two weeks in separate batches, to investigate how the monies were distributed, the codes used, how the facilitator and key foreign suspect, Jeffrey Tesler tricked the Nigerian beneficiaries, as well as the extent of involvement of two former heads of state in the sharing of the loot.
Employment of private translators
When it became clear that the Foreign Affairs Ministry was not forthcoming with the translation, the panel had to request the withdrawal of the documents and employed private experts that eventually carried out the translation but at that time the visas had expired.
It would be recalled that President Umaru Yar’Adua had made all arrangements, including release of funds to the office of the Attorney General of the Federation to ensure that a proper conclusion was arrived at by the panel. He had approved N50million, last September for the panel members to embark on the foreign leg of the investigation following the submission of the panel’s interim report.
Payment of outstanding allowances to the panel members and investigators were also to be effected from the money.
…AVM Bello denies involvement
AVM Bello has vehemently denied knowing anything about the Halliburton deal. According to him, one of the accounts in question is an offshore account which was opened in 2001 and closed towards the end of that year.
The investigating team, led by CP Amodu Ali of the Special Investigation Unit of the Police Force Headquarters had insisted that Air Vice Marshall Bello (rtd) was in a position to disclose the beneficiaries of the Halliburton bribery money and the amount each of them got.
According to Vanguard sources, one of the accounts in question is an off-shore account allegedly opened in London for Bello by Jeffery Tessler. He (Bello) said that the account was opened in 2001 and that towards the end of that year, he closed that account to any transaction whatsoever, stressing that he was, therefore, at a loss as to how the account was used.
Operation of offshore account
Having tried to reach the lawyer (Tessler) and failed, the Police investigating team asked AVM Bello to furnish it with documents of the offshore account showing that he closed the account in 2001 and that he was not aware of any transaction with it.
Asked how such account could be in operation over a period of time and the documents of transaction carried out with it could not be traced, the source said such offshore accounts don’t need to have directors to be opened, rather what they had was a nominee director and that Mr. Tessler is the only nominee director.
“That is why we have requested our American counterparts to intervene on our behalf over the arrest of Mr. Tessler and we are aware that motions have been put in place for the extradition of Mr. Tessler to America to answer questions,” the source said.
AVM Bello was at a time, detained on the instructions of the Okiro Committee over the Halliburton scandal. Relations then approached the Abuja High Court to enforce his fundamental human rights. He was arrested on April 27, and held incommunicado from his family, relations and lawyers, despite his protest that he knew nothing of Tesler’s dealings with Halliburton.
The relations applied to court for: Declaration that the arrest of the applicant on April 27, 2009 in Lagos by officers and men under the command of the Respondents was illegal, unconstitutional and against the provisions of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (Ratification and Enforcement). He was later released.
USA/Nigeria: Halliburton Fallout
Editor’s Note
Fallout is continuing from the long-drawn-out case of Halliburton and Kellogg Brown & Root bribery of Nigerian officials for contracts for a liquefied natural gas plant in Nigeria. In February the two companies agreed to a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice and Security Exchange Commission, including payment of a total of $579 million in fines. Further investigations are under way in five countries; and a detailed expose in Nigeria’s Next newspaper has accused three former heads of state of being involved with the payments.
This AfricaFocus Bulletin continues excerpts from the Next investigative report (http://tinyurl.com/dfyb7m), as well the February statement from the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission (http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2009/2009-23.htm) Additional details and updates can be found on the Next website (http://www.234next.com) and on http://allafrica.com/nigeria
For previous AfricaFocus Bulletins on Nigeria, visit http://www.africafocus.org/country/nigeria.php
++++++++++++++++++++++end editor’s note+++++++++++++++++++++++
The Halliburton bribe takers
By Dapo Olorunyomi and Musikilu Mojeed
April 1, 2009
[Excerpts only. Full text available at the Next website – http://www.234next.com – link directly to article at http://tinyurl.com/dfyb7m]
Our so-called leaders are nothing but common bribe takers, according to US investigators who have got to the bottom of the Halliburton scandal.
The fingered personalities include three former presidents; Obasanjo, Abacha,and Abubakar- as well as a who’s who of Nigeria’s political and business elite.
At least three of our former presidents, Sani Abacha, Abdusalami Abubakar, and Olusegun Obasanjo, received millions of dollars in bribes from American and European contractors retained to build Africa’s first liquefied natural gas plant in Bonny, Rivers State, according to US law enforcement officials.
Also enmeshed in the vast and formalized bribery scheme is a long line of ministers, bureaucrats, top politicians, state and local officials and former oil minister Dan Etete, according to American investigators.
This cast of characters, charged with running the affairs of 150 million people in the heart of Africa received stacks of US dollar bills in briefcases and sometimes in bullion vans.
In other cases they received their payoffs via electronic bank transfers involving such financial institutions as Citibank.
In all, these eminent Nigerians accepted at least N27 billion in bribes from the oil services companies in exchange for billions of dollars in contracts to build our liquefied natural gas plant, US investigators say.
American authorities are now pursuing their own citizens and corporations, notably the oil services company Halliburton, in connection with the scandal.
Halliburton has agreed to pay $579 million in fines and many of its agents face long jail terms.
Our law enforcement authorities, notably Attorney General Michael Aandoaka, have lately been making noises but have in reality done little to pursue those indicted in this scandal, which reveals us as a nation that fully justifies its reputation as one of the world’s leading cesspits for corruption and unrestrained graft.
How it all started
The origin of the Nigerian Liquified scandal can be traced back to 1994, when bids were submitted to build Africa’s first liquefied natural gas plant in Bonny, Rivers State, at a cost of $6 billion.
A joint venture company, TSKJ, formed in equal partnership between a French engineering company, Technip; an Italian engineering company, Snamprogetti; a US engineering company, KBR,of the Halliburton group; and the Japanese engineering and construction company, JGC, amplified corruption in Nigeria to unprecedented levels.
Soon after TSKJ was formed, it set up three companies registered in Madeira, Portugal to recruit two “consulting companies,” Tri-Star Investment Ltd, and Marubeni Inc, with the mandate to bribe Nigerian “officials of the executive branch of government, NNPC and NLNG officials, and political party leaders,” according to a sealed indictment filed at the United States District Court in Houston, Texas.
Three early decisions taken by TSKJ were: hiring a British lawyer, Jeffery Tesler, to coordinate the affairs of TriStar; signing up Wojciech Chodan, an American deal maker resident in the UK to assist him and contracting Messrs Matsuda, Endo, and Lida to run Marubeni.
According to the court deposition of Mr.Tesler, in a clinical application of the principles of division of labour,TSKJ mandated the Tri-Star team, which it disingenuously called “cultural advisors,” to focus only on bribing the “senior level officials”, while the Marubeni team was instructed to restrict itself to bribing the “lower level Nigerian officials.”
Thus while Tristar was incorporated in Gibraltar and had a budget of $130 million; Marubeni, incorporated in Japan, had a budget of $50 million.
Our investigations in the United States, France, the UK and in Nigeria spanned a three week period and were based on court indictments, depositions and interviews.
Bribery in a customary manner
Sani Abacha, Nigeria’s late Head of State, was the first significant point of contact for the TSKJ team, according to lawyers of the United States department of justice, who claimed in court depositions that, in August 1994, the CEO of KBR, Albert Jackson Stanley, and top executives of TSKJ struck an agreement with Abacha “to do business in a customary manner.”
Towards this end, a “cultural committee” of the sales and senior personnel officers of the four joint venture companies, as well as agents of Marubeni was put together to “consider how to implement, but hide, the scheme to pay bribes” to Nigerian officials.
The “cultural committee” in October 1994 worked out a programme of what it called “the downloading and offloading of payments through subcontractors and vendors.”
According to the U. S. Department of Justice, once a plan of how to distribute the bribes and a scheme to evade US bank monitors were resolved, the “cultural committee” gave Mr. Tesler the green light to meet the then petroleum minister, Dan Etete, to discuss and agree on the modalities.
This meeting held on November 02 1994, when Mr. Tesler handed Mr. Etete the bribe schema to secure Train 1 and Train 2 of the Liquified Natural Gas(LNG) contract.
It was made clear that $60 million was available to be shared. Out of this, $40 million would go to Mr. Abacha, while others would have to scramble for the remaining $20million.
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What happened after Trains 1 and 2
Having put the Train 1 and 2 contracts in the can, TSKJ turned its gaze on the Train 3 contract. For this, Stanley flew to Abuja again in the second quarter of 1997, with the sole mission of asking Mr.Abacha to recommend a trusted front man to collect his bribe.
Shortly after he died on June 8, 1998, Mr.Tesler promptly erased him from the list of bribe beneficiaries, substituting him with the new helmsman, Abdulsalami Abubakar.
To keep the entire scheme on the rails, Stanley flew back to Abuja on February 28 1999, asking Mr. Abubakar, to recommend a trusted front man to collect his bribe.
Anxiety about the election
With an election already fixed for May 1999, TSKJ was anxious to wrap up the Train 3 contract before a change of power in Abuja.
Another meeting was held in London on March 05 1999, to come up with a strategy to achieve this objective.
One week after, TSKJ won the Train 3 contract for $1.2 billion. On March 18, 1999, TSKJ paid a kickback of $32.5 million into TriStar’s account, to bribe the Nigerian officials who facilitated the award of the contract.
Even though the lower class officials were eventually catered for in the bribe scheme, they always got the short end of the stick.
Thus, while the senior Nigerian officials had their bribes promptly paid, it took one year after TSKJ had signed the Train 3 contract before Marubeni lined the pockets of the lower class officials.
Computing the pay-offs up to January 2001, American prosecutors believe that a $2.5 million bribe was “off loaded” directly to the Swiss account of Mr. Abubakar’s frontman.
For four days last week, NEXT sought unsuccessfully, through his media consultant, to reach the former Head of State, sending him details of the court indictments but he declined to comment.
After the transition to civil rule in 1999, the United States Department of Justice attorneys stated that Mr.Stanley met with the new President, Olusegun Obasanjo and the then Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Gauis Obaseki, in Abuja on November 11, 2001, to designate “a representative with whom the joint venture [TSKJ] should negotiate the [obligatory] bribes in support of the award of the [forthcoming] Trains 4 and 5 contracts.”
One month later, on December 20 in London, Mr. Obaseki met Mr. Chodan and Mr.Stanley over lunch, to discuss the details of the Trains 4 and 5 contracts.
On Christmas Eve, TSKJ signed a $51 million deal with TriStar, to bribe Nigerian officials for the Trains 4 and 5 contracts.
Three months later, in March 2002, TSKJ won the Train 4 and 5 contract for $3.6 billion. Mr. Obaseki declined to respond to these charges when NEXT spoke to him on the phone.
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Bullion van bribery
Both the Department of Justice and the Security and Exchange Commission’s attorneys, corroborated each other’s claim that $1million in $100 bills was deposited “to the NNPC official” at the NICON Hilton Hotel in a “pilot’s briefcase” for onward delivery to the PDP before the 2003 general elections.
The remaining $4 million was, according to the court filings, delivered in naira in a bullion van.
Audu Ogbe who was the PDP chairman at the time denied any knowledge of this and loudly called for an investigation.
A spokesman for Vincent Ogbulafor, the current chairman, said in Abuja last week that Ogboluafor also discounted this claim.
Phenomenal greed and sleaze
The planning, the scale and the sophistication of TSKJ’s web of corruption and its capacity to ensnare three successive heads of state, coupled with the elaborate scheme to set up corrupting agencies for lower and senior officials, stands out in the annals of official corruption in Nigeria.
The ruling class was identified and broken down into its constituent parts: political, bureaucratic, and technocratic so as to isolate the beneficiaries of the graft.
TSKJ came fully prepared and well primed to sustaining this code named scheme over the decade it would take to come to fruition.
The multijurisdictional impact of the corruption is still unprecedented in Nigeria.
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Investigating KBR
KBR or its principal officers are facing investigation and prosecution in at least five countries today.
Officers from Britain’s Serious Fraud Office(SFO), arrested Mr. Tesler, now 60, at his offices in Tottenham, London, on March 05.
He is to be extradited to the USA to face further questioning by the Department of Justice.
Also arrested with Mr.Tesler was Mr.Chodan, 71, who as an agent for Halliburton, wrote detailed diaries, describing meetings with the bribe consortium and representatives of the international oil companies.
From the United Kingdom, Britain’s Serious Fraud Office confirmed that there is an on-going investigation into the allegations of bribery and corruption against British businesses in Nigeria.
Since 2004, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has been investigating the conduct of Halliburton/KBR.
The investigation is ongoing, according to sources in Abuja.
Recently, the Swiss Justice department followed the steps of the Police Judiciare of France, which in 2003, started an investigation which revealed fraudulent Halliburton payments to Jeffery Tesler.
In their home country, the United States, KBR and Halliburton admitted last month to violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, by engaging in a decade-long bribing scheme to secure contracts in Nigeria.
The companies also agreed to pay a combined fine of $579 million to settle criminal and civil charges brought by both the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) for violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
The indictment of Mr.Tesler and Mr.Chodan, in all likelihood, will also open a floodgate of other suits.
This month the president gave full backing to the Attorney General, Michael Aondoakaa, to again investigate Halliburton for tarnishing the image of the country by bribing its officials.
Mr. Aaondoaka has assembled a team of local lawyers and briefed American-based financial crimes experts, to institute a suit against KBR and Halliburton for soiling the name of the country through the bribery schemes.
Also last Tuesday, the Nigerian Senate called on the Federal Government to identify the Nigerians involved and proceed to prosecute them.
Smart Adeyemi,one of the eight senators who sponsored the Bill said “the matter is so huge it can erase the prestige of the Senate and indeed of the Nigerian government to be legitimate, if this is swept under the carpet.”
…
In the 2003-2007 House of Representatives, when Chudi Offodile, as chairman of the House committee on pubic petitions, investigated the Halliburton scandal, he said he repeatedly ran into a brick wall. The Offodile committee, however, recommended that all companies in the TSKJ consortium, as well as Halliburton be excluded from future contracts in the country.
The House sitting of September 2004, approved the committee’s recommendations.
In his response to the current phase of the scandal, Mr.Offodile, in a pained response, lamented how the NNPC and the Federal Government subverted all the best intensions of the legislature.
In spite of the legislators recommendations, NNPC went ahead to give KBR the contract to build the “topsides of the FPSO for Agbami Deep offshore field, owned by NNPC, ChevronTexaco Petrobras and Statoil… [and that the] same KBR formed a Joint Venture with Snamprogetti, and JGC, all three Companies were members of the notorious TSKJ consortium and still won a $1.7Billion EPC contract to build the Escravos Gas to Liquids Project, owned by the NNPC and Chevron-Texaco,” said Mr. Offodile.
He recounted a meeting in June 2005 when he accompanied then House Speaker Aminu Bello and Deputy Speaker Austin Opara, to brief President Obasanjo on the true situation of the Halliburton/KBR.
“We were all seated at the President’s conference room, the Halliburton team led by Mr. Andy Lane, the Chief Operating Officer, the NNPC team, led by the Group managing Director, Funsho Kupolokun , ” a few minutes later, one of the presidency staff walked up to the Deputy Speaker and informed him that I would not be part of the meeting.”
Offodile said adding that he was thrown out of the meeting. He described the situation as frustrating and painful because “once again, the Halliburton enforcers had their way.”
SEC Charges KBR and Halliburton for FCPA Violations
[For more information, contact:
Antonia Chion Associate Director, SEC’s Division of Enforcement (202) 551-4842
Kara Novaco Brockmeyer Assistant Director, SEC’s Division of Enforcement (202) 551-4767
See also the Department of Justice press release at http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/February/09-crm-112.html]
Washington, D.C., Feb. 11, 2009 – The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced settlements with KBR, Inc. and Halliburton Co. to resolve SEC charges that KBR subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root LLC bribed Nigerian government officials over a 10-year period, in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), in order to obtain construction contracts. The SEC also charged that KBR and Halliburton, KBR’s former parent company, engaged in books and records violations and internal controls violations related to the bribery. Additional Materials
- Litigation Release No. 20897A [http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2009/lr20897a.htm]
- SEC Complaint [http://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2009/comp20897.pdf]
KBR and Halliburton have agreed to pay $177 million in disgorgement to settle the SEC’s charges. Kellogg Brown & Root LLC has agreed to pay a $402 million fine to settle parallel criminal charges brought today by the U.S. Department of Justice. The sanctions represent the largest combined settlement ever paid by U.S. companies since the FCPA’s inception.
“FCPA violations have been and will continue to be dealt with severely by the SEC and other law enforcement agencies,” said SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro. “Any company that seeks to put greed ahead of the law by making illegal payments to win business should beware that we are working vigorously across borders to detect and punish such illicit conduct.”
Linda Chatman Thomsen, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, said, “This case demonstrates the close and cooperative working relationships that have developed in FCPA investigations among the SEC, the U.S. Department of Justice, and foreign law enforcement agencies and securities regulators.”
Antonia Chion, Associate Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, added, “The SEC will not tolerate violations of the FCPA, regardless of the lengths to which public companies will go to structure their corrupt transactions to avoid detection. Multi-national companies should take heed that attempting to conceal bribes by funneling them through intermediaries or offshore entities will not be successful.”
Acting Assistant Attorney General Rita M. Glavin of the Criminal Division at the Department of Justice said, “Today’s guilty plea by KBR ends one chapter in the Department’s long-running investigation of corruption in the award of $6 billion in construction contracts in Nigeria. This bribery scheme involved both senior foreign government officials and KBR corporate executives who took actions to insulate themselves from the reach of U.S. law enforcement. The successful prosecution of KBR, and its agreement to pay a more than $400 million fine, demonstrates that no one is above the law, and that the Department is determined to seek penalties that are commensurate with, and will deter, this kind of serious criminal misconduct.”
Kellogg Brown & Root LLC’s predecessor entities (Kellogg, Brown & Root, Inc. and The M.W. Kellogg Company) were members of a four-company joint venture that won the construction contracts worth more than $6 billion. In September 1998, Halliburton acquired Dresser Industries, Inc., the parent company of The M.W. Kellogg Company.
The SEC alleges that beginning as early as 1994, members of the joint venture determined that it was necessary to pay bribes to officials within the Nigerian government in order to obtain the construction contracts. The former CEO of the predecessor entities, Albert “Jack” Stanley, and others involved in the joint venture met with high-ranking Nigerian government officials and their representatives on at least four occasions to arrange the bribe payments. To conceal the illicit payments, the joint venture entered into sham contracts with two agents, one based in the United Kingdom and one based in Japan, to funnel money to Nigerian officials.
The SEC’s complaint alleges that the internal controls of Halliburton, the parent company of the KBR predecessor entities from 1998 to 2006, failed to detect or prevent the bribery, and that Halliburton records were falsified as a result of the bribery scheme. In September 2008, Stanley pleaded guilty to bribery and related charges and entered into a settlement with the SEC.
The SEC alleges that officials of the joint venture formed a “cultural committee” to decide how to carry out the bribery scheme. The committee decided to use the United Kingdom agent to make payments to high-ranking Nigerian officials and to use the Japanese agent to make payments to lower-ranking Nigerian officials. As the joint venture was paid for work on the construction project, the joint venture in turn made payments to the Japanese agent and to the Swiss and Monaco bank accounts of the United Kingdom agent. The total payments to the two agents exceeded $180 million. After receiving the money, the United Kingdom agent made substantial payments to accounts controlled by Nigerian government officials, and beginning in 2002 paid $5 million in cash to a Nigerian political party.
The SEC’s complaint further alleges that, after the Dresser acquisition, Halliburton failed to devise and maintain adequate internal controls to govern the use of foreign sales agents and failed to maintain and enforce the internal controls it had. Halliburton’s due diligence investigation of the United Kingdom agent failed to detect or prevent the bribery scheme. Halliburton conducted no due diligence on the Japanese agent. As a result of the scheme, numerous Halliburton records contained false information relating to the payments to the agents.
Without admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations, KBR and Halliburton have consented to the entry of a court order that (i) permanently enjoins KBR from violating the anti-bribery and records falsification provisions in Sections 30A, 13(b)(5) and Rule 13b2-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and from aiding and abetting violations of the record-keeping and internal control provisions in Sections 13(b)(2)(A) and 13(b)(2)(B) of the Exchange Act; (ii) permanently enjoins Halliburton from violating the record-keeping and internal control provisions of the Exchange Act; (iii) orders the companies to disgorge $177 million in ill-gotten profits derived from the scheme; (iv) imposes an independent monitor for KBR for a period of three years to review its FCPA compliance program, and (v) imposes an independent consultant for Halliburton to review its policies and procedures as they relate to compliance with the FCPA. The proposed settlements are subject to the court’s approval.
In the related criminal proceeding announced today, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a criminal action against Kellogg Brown & Root LLC, charging one count of conspiring to violate the FCPA and four counts of violating the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA. Kellogg Brown & Root LLC has pled guilty to each of these counts. Under its plea agreement, Kellogg Brown & Root LLC is required to pay a criminal fine of $402 million and to retain a monitor to review and evaluate KBR’s policies and procedures as they relate to compliance with the FCPA.
The Commission acknowledges the assistance of the U.S. Department of Justice, Fraud Section; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and foreign authorities in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. The Commission’s investigation is continuing.
Culled from africafocus.org
Halliburton and Nigeria: A Chronology of Key Events in the Unfolding Bribery Scandal
1988: Dresser Industries acquires M.W. Kellogg, ten years before Dresser merges with Halliburton.
September 1994: M.W. Kellogg and three other companies form a partnership known as TSKJ, incorporated in Medeira, Portugal. Each partner owns a 25 percent equal share. Kellogg’s three other partners are Technip of France, Italy’s Snamprogetti, and Japan Gasoline Corp. The partnership submits a bid to Nigeria LNG to build a natural gas plant in Nigeria. Nigeria LNG is owned by the Nigerian government and Royal Dutch/Shell Group. TSKJ’s $2 billion bid is not immediately accepted even though it was 5 percent lower than a bid submitted by competitor, Bechtel Group, Inc.
November 1994: As TSKJ awaits Nigeria’s decision on the bid, Wojciech Chodan, an executive at Kellogg and later a consultant for Kellogg Brown & Root, meets with London lawyer Jefferey Tesler, who is known for his contacts and friendly relations with the Nigerian government, including its dictator Gen. Sani Abacha. During the meeting, they discussed channeling $40 million to Gen. Abacha through Mr. Tesler’s firm Tri-Star, based in Gibralter, Spain.
March 1995: TSKJ formally hires Mr. Tesler as agent; TSKJ’s bid has still not been accepted by Nigeria LNG. Mr. Tesler’s employment contract is signed by an M.W. Kellogg executive on behalf of the TSKJ partnership. Mr. Tesler had been working on behalf of TSKJ prior to March 1995 and the employment contract was given to Mr. Tesler as a reward for his prodding of Nigerian officials. The employment contract provided that Mr. Tesler would be paid $60 million if Nigeria awarded the construction contract to TSKJ. Mr. Tesler’s Tri-Star was contracted to receive at least $160 million in five agreements signed between 1995 and 2002, and the funds were directed to bank accounts in Switzerland and Monaco.
March 20, 1995: Dan Etete replaces Nigeria’s former oil minister, who has a falling out with the dicatator, Gen. Abacha. “In an interrogation of Mr. Tesler, a French magistrate described the London lawyer’s transfer of $2.5 million into Swiss bank accounts held by Mr. Etete under a false name between 1996 and 1998. Mr. Tesler confirmed making the payments but told the magistrate that the money was for an investment in offshore oil exploration leases in Nigeria and that he wasn’t aware the accounts belonged to Mr. Etete, according to people familiar with the interrogation.” (Wall Street Journal, Sept. 29, 2004.)
June 1995: Albert Jack Stanley is promoted to president and chief operating officer of M.W. Kellogg after serving as executive vice president since 1991 and various positions since 1975.
August 1995: Dick Cheney is hired as CEO of Halliburton, three years before he directs the merger of Halliburton with Dresser Industries and M.W. Kellogg. He serves as CEO until August of 2000.
December 1995: TSKJ is finally awarded the $2 billion contract from Nigeria LNG.
July 1996: M.W. Kellogg promotes Albert Jack Stanley to chairman, president and chief executive officer; he also becomes vice president of operations for the parent, Dresser Industries.
February 1998: Halliburton and M.W. Kellogg’s parent, Dresser Industries, agree to a $7.7 billion merger directed by Dick Cheney. M.W. Kellogg is merged with Halliburton’s Brown & Root subsidiary to form Kellogg, Brown & Root. Albert Jack Stanley is named as chairman of the new subsidiary. The Independent (UK) reported that “Mr Stanley had been appointed to his senior role at Halliburton by Mr Cheney when he was chief executive between 1995 and 2000.” (The Independent, Oct. 3, 2004.) The Wall Street Journal confirmed that Cheney “named Mr. Stanley � to a top post at the company in 1998.” (Wall Street Journal, Sept. 29, 2004.) Cheney told the Middle East Economic Digest in 1999 that, “We took Jack Stanley � to head up the organization and that has helped tremendously.” (Middle East Economic Digest, April 9, 1999.)
1999: The TSKJ partners, with Kellogg Brown & Root acting as the lead partner, agree to reappoint Mr. Tesler as its agent during a meeting in London. Kellogg wanted Mr. Tesler, with whom it had a long-term relationship, to attend. But the representative from the French partner, Technip, wanted a different agent and insisted that Mr. Tesler be excluded from the meeting. William Chaudan, the Kellogg representative at TSKJ, said Mr. Tesler had been selected on Kellogg’s recommendation and over Technip’s “strong opposition.” (Financial Times, London, Sept. 16, 2004.) Halliburton officials in Houston deny that Kellogg Brown & Root demanded Mr. Tesler’s participation. Three new contracts with Mr. Tesler required TSKJ to pay his firm, Tri-Star, $32.5 million for his services in Nigeria. Richard Northmore, a sales manager for M.W. Kellogg in England, signed contracts with Mr. Tesler for TSKJ. Syed Nasser, M.W. Kellogg’s legal director, acted as counsel to the TSKJ consortium, approving Mr Tesler’s role. Bhaskar Patel, a sales and marketing vice-president who works in Kellogg, Brown & Root’s office in England, also worked with Mr. Tesler.
March 1999: Halliburton announces the Nigerian government awarded a $1.2 billion contract to TSKJ to expand the construction of the natural gas plant from two trains to three trains in order to increase the plant’s capacity by 50 percent. At the time, Stanley declared the contract award exemplifies Kellogg’s “project execution skills.” (Halliburton press release, March 11, 1999.)
October 1999: First shipment of liquefied natural gas is shipped from Nigeria.
October 2003: French magistrate initiates investigation of suspicious payments made by TSKJ after a former executive with one of TSKJ’s partners, Technip of France, said Mr. Tesler is “directly linked to corruption in Nigeria.” (Financial Times, London, Sept. 16, 2004.) Halliburton admitted that TSKJ paid $132 million in “advisory fees” to Mr. Tesler and that under Tesler’s contract with the company the money was not to be used for bribery. But the French investigator said the payments to Mr. Tesler “appear completely unjustified.” (Wall Street Journal, Sept. 29, 2004.) The money was paid to Mr. Tesler between 1995 and 2002, more than half of which came after 1999. Under French law, Mr. Cheney could be subject to a charge of “abuse of corporate assets” even if he knew nothing about the alleged improper payments during his tenure as Halliburton’s chief executive. The U.S. antibribery law applies only to executives who are aware of illicit payments to foreign officials. (Dallas Morning News, Sept. 8, 2004.) The Wall Street Journal reported that French authorities don’t have jurisdiction over Halliburton in this case but are sharing information with U.S. authorities. (Wall Street Journal, Sept. 29, 2004.) “A preliminary investigation by the Police Judiciaire of France found that LNG Servicos, a company indirectly owned by the four partners in the Nigerian joint venture, made four payments totaling at least $166 million at times that roughly coincide with the award of contracts. The payments went to a Gibraltar company owned by a London attorney to a Swiss bank account that was later closed at the request of the bank.” (Dallas Morning News, Jan. 25, 2004.)
December 2003: Albert Jack Stanley retires as chairman of Kellogg Brown & Root, but retains a position as consultant for Halliburton.
June 2004: Halliburton fires Albert Jack Stanley after investigators say he received $5 million in “improper” payments from Mr. Tesler. It also fires William Chaudan, the Kellogg representative at TSKJ. Halliburton spokesperson, Wendy Hall, said that during the years he ran KBR, Mr. Stanley reported to David Lesar, Halliburton’s president and chief operating officer at the time and CEO today. Mr. Lesar reported to Mr. Cheney when Cheney was chief executive. (Dallas Morning News, Sept. 8, 2004.) (Important Note: Lesar is an accountant and former Arthur Andersen partner, meaning he may have been in a position to know about the purpose of payments to Tesler when they occurred.) According to the Dallas Morning News, “Mr. Cheney ran Halliburton when one of four suspicious payments occurred.” (Dallas Morning News, Sept. 8, 2004.)
June 2004: It is reported that Tesler put $1 million into an account held by William Chaudan, the Kellogg representative at TSKJ. “The company has since learned that even larger sums may have gone into the accounts of Mr. Stanley and Mr. Chaudan.” (Dallas Morning News, Sept. 3, 2004.) Chaudan retired from M.W. Kellogg Co. in 1998, but had continued as a consultant. (Dallas Morning News, June 19, 2004.)
August 2004: Nigeria’s parliament votes unanimously to summon Halliburton CEO, David Lesar, to answer questions over its bribery investigation. It issues a report recommending that Halliburton and TSKJ be disqualified from bidding on future government projects. It denounces what it calls Halliburton’s “hide-and-seek games” to avoid questions from government investigators.
September 2004: TSKJ severs all ties to Mr. Tesler and his firm, Tri-Star.
September 2004: The Wall Street Journal reports on newly disclosed evidence by Halliburton, including notes written by M.W. Kellogg employees during the mid-1990s in which they discussed bribing Nigerian officials. The Financial Times of London said the evidence “raises questions over what Mr Cheney knew – or should have known – about one of the largest contracts awarded to a Halliburton subsidiary.” (Financial Times, Sept. 16, 2004.) The written notes were discovered by Halliburton’s lawyer, James Doty, a lead partner in the Houston law firm Baker Botts. The “Baker” in Baker Botts is Bush family lawyer James Baker, the same lawyer credited with winning Florida for Bush Jr. over Gore. Baker also served as President George H. Bush’s Secretary of State. Doty was general counsel to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under the senior President Bush. He was SEC general counsel when the SEC investigated Bush Jr. for insider trading. Doty recused himself from the case, which was eventually closed without action. Bush Jr. was never interviewed. Although Bush’s lawyers gave the “smoking gun” in that case to the SEC the day after it closed the investigation, Doty refused to reopen the case. (Washington Post, Nov. 1, 2002.)
September 2004: Nigeria’s President Olusegun Obasanjo officially bans Halliburton from bidding on future government contracts because it violated safety regulations for nuclear material. The president accuses the company of negligently causing the disappearance of two highly sensitive radioactive devices used to take measurements in oil wells. The ban is apparently not related to the ongoing bribery investigations.
October 2004: Revelations about Halliburton’s central role in the bribery investigation forces United Kingdom’s Export Credit Guarantee Department (ECGD) to consider withdrawing its support of a 133 million (British pounds) loan made last year to Kellogg. ECGD said it originally supported the loan on the basis that Halliburton was merely a “subcontractor to the [TSKJ] consortium and financial arrangements were not their responsibility,” but it was maintaining a “watching brief” on the French investigation. (The Independent, Oct. 3, 2004).
October 22, 2004: Investigators with Nigeria’s parliament complain that Halliburton is not being cooperative in their investigation of the alleged bribery. The investigators say Mr. Tesler paid bribes on behalf of TSKJ to Nigerian government officials. The bribes were paid in installments: $60 million in 1995, $37.5 million in 1999, $51 million in 2001 and $23 million in 2002.
June 20, 2005: The French newspaper LeFigaro reports that a U.S. Justice Department official held “lengthy” meetings with French authorities in Paris on the issue of TSKJ bribes. It said an unnamed U.S. source asserted that the bribery scandal is “probably the most significant file of corruption” known in Washington today.
Sept. 22, 2006: A former Halliburton employee says he has evidence proving the company has embarked on a campaign to cover-up all wrongdoing, including attempts to mislead federal investigators.
Sources:
Solomon Hughes and Jason Nisse, “How Cheney’s Firm Routed $132m to Nigeria via Tottenham Lawyer,” The Independent (UK), Oct. 3, 2004.
Russell Gold and Charles Fleming, “Out of Africa: In Halliburton Nigeria Probe, A Search for Bribes to a Dictator,” Wall Street Journal, Sept. 29, 2004, p.A1.
Michael Peel, “Nigeria gas consortium ‘evasive’, says probe chief,” Financial Times (London), Aug. 23 2004.
Michael Peel, “Halliburton angers Nigerian MPs in ‘bribes’ hearing,” Financial Times (London), Oct. 22, 2004.
“Halliburton ‘backed’ bribes probe agent,” Financial Times (London), Sept. 16, 2004.
Middle East Economic Digest, April 9, 1999, p. 7.
Peter Behr, “Bush Sold Stock After Lawyers’ Warning; SEC Closed Probe Before Receiving Letter From Harken’s Outside Attorneys,” Washington Post, Nov. 1, 2002.
Nigeria House of Representatives Petition Committee, Interim Report: The Halliburton/TSKJ/LNG Investigation, Summary of Facts, Sept. 2004.
Richard Whittle and Jim Landers, “Cheney’s years at Halliburton under scrutiny,” Dallas Morning News, Sept. 8, 2004.
Jim Landers and Richard Whittle, “Details emerge in bribery probe; Cheney isn’t focus of French inquiry of Nigerian gas project,” Dallas Morning News, Jan. 25, 2004.
Jim Landers and Richard Whittle, “Bribery case findings detailed; Halliburton says incidents predate ownership of firm,” Dallas Morning News, Sept. 3, 2004.
Richard Whittle and Jim Landers, “Halliburton fires two consultants; Company says ‘improper personal benefits’ received in Nigerian gas deal,” Dallas Morning News, June 19, 2004.
“Bush family lawyer James Doty hired to conduct internal probe of Halliburton involvement in Nigeria payments,” Corporate Crime Reporter, February 16, 2004.
Ahamefula Ogbu, “$180m LNG Scam: Witnesses Stall Investigation,” ThisDayOnline.com, Oct. 21, 2004.
www.Halliburton.com
Culled from halliburtonwatch.org
Corrupt leaders should be treated like Olisa Metuh – CACOL
Lagos – The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) says the handcuff of the spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on his way to court on Tuesday was in order, saying that corrupt leaders should be treated in the same way.
The body described as distractive, the dust being raised by some individuals and groups over the appearance of Metuh in handcuffs at the Federal High Court in Abuja for the hearing on his application for bail following his arraignment on seven counts of money laundering against him by the EFCC.
The Executive Chairman of CACOL, Mr. Debo Adeniran, stated that “Olisa Metuh’s appearance in handcuffs at the hearing is in line with standard procedure and has not violated the constitution in anyway. What we are witnessing is the attempt to whip up sentiments and empathy in favour of corrupt elements that have over time drained the Commonwealth of the Nation with rabid and bare-faced impunity.”
CACOL according to the Chairman has consistently called for the naming, shaming and nailing of corrupt leaders and individuals irrespective of religious, ethnic, political and social inclinations, saying that “as a result, we welcome the development as it tallies with the strategy of the organization in battling corruption.”
Adeniran called for diligent prosecution of all corrupt persons such that convictions of those found guilty could be achieved to serve as deterrent to others, saying “It is an open secret that these corrupt individuals have at their disposal, ill-gotten gains with which they can pay for legal services of the cleverest lawyers who can wriggle through the labyrinth of the litigations to escape justice.
Arms Deal: There Must Be No Sacred Cows As FG Probes Military, Others– CACOL
The Coalition Against Corrupt leaders (CACOL) has expressed support for the Presidential committee investigating arms procurement between 2007 and 2015 which has started a fresh investigation into the purchases of equipment by the Army during the period and the directive by the Chief of Army Staff that all Army Personnel in Public Office should declare their assets within the next 14 days.
Chairman of the CACOL, Mr. Debo Adeniran, described the recent steps in combating corruption in the Army as bold and encouraging, because they are indicative that there would be no sacred cows in the war against corruption unlike the hitherto existing situation. He added that, “the anti-corruption drive cannot be effective if business is allowed to continue as usual. All corrupt persons whether Civilian, Military, Police, EFCC, ICPC, Customs etc. must be treated as what they are, criminals, without caring whose ox is gored.’’
CACOL holds the view that, as a matter of fact, corruption in the Army and other security agencies is supposed to be dealt with more severely considering the training along the line of discipline and integrity received and supposedly imbibed by these personnel. “A wicked, most inhuman and most incomprehensible example, is the diversion of funds meant for arms procurement for the war against insurgency and to protect National sovereignty which led to the avoidable loss of lives of soldiers; civilians in their thousands; and property worth billions of naira, this is treasonable and unacceptable.’’ the Chairman of CACOL said.
“The era of Army Personnel or any Nigerian in Public offices acting with impunity and enjoying immunity alongside must be ended. A criminal, is a criminal, we demand that anyone found culpable in corrupt practices must be brought to book regardless of their status. We must continue along the path of naming them, shunning them, shaming them and jailing to serve as deterrent to other corrupt persons or potentially corrupt persons. Anything less will not suffice and could jeopardise the war against corruption.’’ the group asserted.
EFCC’s handcuff of Metuh in order – CACOL
The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) says the handcuff of the spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Olisa Metuh by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to court on Tuesday was in order, saying that corrupt leaders should be treated in the same way.
The body described as distractive, the dust being raised by some individuals and groups over the appearance of Metuh in handcuffs at the Federal High Court in Abuja for the hearing on his application for bail following his arraignment on seven counts of money laundering against him by the EFCC.
The Executive Chairman of CACOL, Mr. Debo Adeniran, stated that “Olisa Metuh’s appearance in handcuffs at the hearing is in line with standard procedure and has not violated the constitution in anyway. What we are witnessing is the attempt to whip up sentiments and empathy in favour of corrupt elements that have over time drained the Commonwealth of the Nation with rabid and bare-faced impunity.”
CACOL according to the Chairman has consistently called for the naming, shaming and nailing of corrupt leaders and individuals irrespective of religious, ethnic, political and social inclinations, saying that “as a result, we welcome the development as it tallies with the strategy of the organization in battling corruption.”
Adeniran called for diligent prosecution of all corrupt persons such that convictions of those found guilty could be achieved to serve as deterrent to others.
“It is an open secret that these corrupt individuals have at their disposal, ill-gotten gains with which they can pay for legal services of the cleverest lawyers who can wriggle through the labyrinth of the litigations to escape justice. With prudent, diligent and thorough investigations and prosecutions, we can win the battle against corruption.
“Those raising the question of differential treatment in the handling of persons on trial for corruption should note that Metuh was reported to have been recalcitrant, unrepentant, unremorseful, and un-cooperative to the extent of tearing up his own written statement when he was been interrogated, it is only wise for all agencies involved in his case to take precaution based on discretion and the suspect’s attitude which clearly was that of arrogance and being above the law.
“The PDP Spokesperson’s case cannot be compared with that of some suspects that cooperated with investigating agencies, volunteered information and demonstrated remorse. And come to think of it, he is not the only public figure that has been cuffed during trial processes, examples are former Governor of Kogi State, late Abubakar Audu, in 2013 over a case of 10 billion naira fraud and Alhaji Tafa Balogun, a former Inspector General Police, in 2005, who was also cuffed during his trial following his attempt to escape justice by jumping down from the moving van that was conveying him to remand. In any case no known law has been violated in this case,” the CACOL Chairman explained.
According to Adeniran, “It is our desire to see the agencies treat all suspected corruption criminals in the same way in order to send appropriate message to innocent Nigerians that corruption is a shameful act. This is in line with CACOL’s perpetual advice through its pay-off line – name, nail, shame and shun corrupt leaders anywhere, everywhere.”
Corruption: It’s time to name and prosecute all suspects – CACOL
Published on January 20, 2016 by pmnews · No Comments
The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL, on Tuesday said Nigerians have had enough of revelations of how public funds were squandered by some Nigerians, especially in the last administration.
The organisation said it was time for the Federal Government to publish and list the names of all those who have allegedly stolen the nation’s common-wealth if the government truly desires to succeed in the anti-corruption war it has espoused.
Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, had on Monday said 55 former government functionaries and top businessmen stole N1.34 trillion from the public treasury in eight years.
Lai Mohammed categorised the officials involved in the corrupt practices to include former state governors, ex-ministers, former legislators, civil servants, bankers and other businessmen.
The Minister had said: “between 2006 and 2013, just 55 people allegedly stole a total of N1.34 trillion in Nigeria. That’s more than a quarter of last year’s national budget.”
CACOL, in its own contribution to the series of reactions that had so far greeted the federal government’s revelation said though the minister was correct, the revelation by him should culminate in the prosecution of the suspects.
Executive Chairman of CACOL, Comrade Debo Adeniran, said: “we say enough of the exposé.
“What we want to hear now is diligent prosecutions and thorough adjudication. Corruption criminals should be thoroughly investigated, and no criminal should be allowed to go unpunished.
“Anybody guilty of corruption should be punished to serve as deterrent to others and there should be opportunity for anti-graft agencies to freeze assets of suspects that are found to be living so much beyond their legitimate earnings so that they will not have the opportunity to use proceeds of corruption to strike the government.”
Adeniran, however, reiterated that Lai Mohammed’s revelation aligned with the belief that only one per cent of Nigerians enjoyed 99 per cent of the nation’s commonwealth and since this has been established, Nigerians are interested in addressing the issue through the judicial process.
“The anti-graft war should not leave any stone unturned, it should not have respect for sacred cows, and everybody should be treated as being equal before the law.
“Also, the loopholes in our law and the corruption in the judiciary are all there to frustrate the war against corruption so the Judiciary needs to be sanitised.
“The Federal Government should also ensure that the anti-corruption agencies are strengthened; they should be given more funds, more personnel, equipment, training, and protection.
“Every case that is supposes to go to ICPC should be directed to the Commission and the ones meant for the EFCC should be thoroughly pursued by the EFCC.
“Nigerians are interested in the case; even if the suspects escape justice, they should be able to ostracize and shame them,” Adeniran said.
5 ex-govs, 40 others stole N1.34tn in eight years –FG
The Federal Government has alleged that 55 former government functionaries and top businessmen stole N1.34tn from public treasury in eight years.Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made the allegation at a press conference to announce a National Sensitisation Campaign against Corruption in Abuja on Monday.
Although Mohammed did not disclose the authority for the allegation, he categorised the officials involved in the corrupt practices to include former state governors, ex-ministers, former legislators, civil servants, bankers and other businessmen.
Different government agencies, including the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Department of State Services and some ad hoc committees have been intensely involved in one investigation or the other since President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office on May 29, 2015.
Mohammed said, “The situation is dire and the time to act is now. Between 2006 and 2013, just 55 people allegedly stole a total of N1.34tn in Nigeria. That’s more than a quarter of last year’s national budget.
“Out of the stolen funds, 15 former governors allegedly stole N146.84bn; four former ministers allegedly stole N7.05bn; five former legislators allegedly stole N8.35bn; 12 former public servants, both at federal and state levels, allegedly stole over N14.18bn; eight people in the banking industry allegedly stole N524bn; while 11 businessmen allegedly stole N653bn.
“What do these figures translate to in the actual sense? In other words, what is the cost of these stolen funds to Nigerians? Using the World Bank rates and costs, one-third of the stolen funds could have provided 635.18 kilometres of road; built 36 ultra-modern hospitals, that is one ultra-modern hospital per state; built 183 schools; educated 3,974 children from primary to tertiary level at N25.24m per child; and built 20,062 units of two-bedroomed houses.
“This is the money that a few people, just 55 in number, allegedly stole within a period of just eight years. And instead of a national outrage, all we hear are these nonsensical statements that the government is fighting only the opposition or that the government is engaging in vendetta.”
He urged Nigerians to get involved in the war against corruption.
Mohammed said everyone that had been soiled in the pool of corruption would go in for it no matter the party affiliation, adding that Buhari’s war on corruption was neither a one-man show nor a political vendetta.
He said, “Let’s take the latest issue of the $2.1bn arms deal as an example. One thing is clear. Funds meant to fight terrorism were deployed in another fight, the fight to keep the then President Goodluck Jonathan and his party, the PDP, in power at all costs.
“So far, based on what we know, no one, who has been accused of partaking in the sharing of the (arms purchase) funds, has denied receiving money. All we have heard from them are ludicrous reasons why they partook in the sharing of the money.
“One said he collected N4.5bn for spiritual purposes; another said he received N2.1bn for publicity, while yet another said he got N13bn to pay someone else for the Maritime University land.