Rechercher

/ languages

Choisir langue
 

US

KBR pleads guilty to Nigerian bribery

Article published on the 2009-02-12 Latest update 2009-02-12 13:45 TU

Halliburton and former subsidiary KBR have agreed to pay record fines.(Photos : www.halliburton.com/www.kbr.com)

Halliburton and former subsidiary KBR have agreed to pay record fines.
(Photos : www.halliburton.com/www.kbr.com)

American engineering giant Halliburton and its former-subsidiary KBR agreed to pay 450 million euros in criminal and civil penalties on Wednesday to settle a long-running investigation into a Nigerian bribery scandal. It’s the largest fine ever handed down for bribery in the US.

Print the article

Send the article

Comments on article


Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) pleaded guilty to charges pertaining to “its participation in a decade-long scheme to bribe Nigerian government officials” to obtain contracts, the US Justice Department said.

Interview: Pratap Chatterjee, author of "Halliburton's Army"

 
 

12/02/2009 by Zeenat Hansrod

KBR will pay a 313 million euros criminal fine and Halliburton will pay an additional 137 million euros in civil penalties. 

These penalties represent “three times the amount of money that was actually paid out in bribes”, Pratap Chatterjee, author of Halliburton's Army, told RFI.

“The signal that the department of justice is trying to send here is that bribery is both illegal and it will be pursued. Anybody who is found guilty of such a crime will have to pay”, Chatterjee said.

KBR, was spun-off by Haliburton in 2006, was awarded four contracts by the Nigerian government for oil-industry infrastructure between 1995 and 2004. During the period in question, KBR was a full-fledged subsidiary of Halliburton.

“It must be noted that Dick Cheney was Albert “Jack” Stanley’s boss when part of the bribe was paid,” Chatterjee added.

“Halliburton is actually paying 96 to 97 per cent of this fine,” Chatterjee told RFI.

“If Halliburton and KBR are separate companies, completely separate financial entities, then why is Halliburton paying more than 95 per cent of the fine, unless in fact they are really the same entity who have been separated more for legal reasons in order to be able to escape problems in terms of getting contracts?”

Last September, former KBR chief executive Albert Stanley pleaded guilty to related charges, and could face jail time after his sentencing scheduled for 6 May.