Shell, Eni Face Italian Charges Over Nigerian Deal
December 20 2017 - 7:27AM
Dow Jones News
By Eric Sylvers in Milan and Sarah Kent in London
An Italian judge Wednesday indicted Royal Dutch Shell PLC, the
chief executive of the Italian oil-and-gas company Eni SpA and
other industry executives on corruption charges connected to a 2011
deal to acquire drilling rights off the coast of Nigeria.
Prosecutors say in court documents that Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi
and the other executives at both Shell and Eni knew that most of
the $1.3 billion Eni and Shell paid to the Nigerian government to
acquire the drilling rights would be distributed as bribes.
Prosecutors will argue that Goodluck Jonathan, the Nigerian
president at the time of the deal, received part of the kickbacks,
according to court documents.
The trial is due to start March 5 and marks a rare example of
senior executives being criminally charged in connection with
corruption in the oil sector.
Prosecutors are expected to delve into the operations of the two
companies and more widely into an industry that often operates in
countries where graft is pervasive like Nigeria.
Other executives indicted include Eni's former chief executive
Paolo Scaroni, Eni's CEO at the time of the deal, and Malcolm
Brinded, Shell's global exploration and production chief at the
time of the deal. Mr. Brinded has since left Shell.
Eni's board of directors said it had "full confidence" that Mr.
Descalzi wasn't involved in illegal conduct and "reaffirmed its
confidence that the company wasn't involved in alleged corrupt
activities." Eni said it ordered an independent investigation that
looked into the matter that gave it confidence in its
executives.
"Eni expresses its full confidence in the judicial process and
that the trial will ascertain and confirm the correctness and
integrity of its conduct," the company said.
Shell said it was "disappointed" by the indictment, but that it
believes a trial will show there is no case against the company or
its former employees. "There is no place for bribery or corruption
in our company."
Mr. Brinded said: "I have done nothing wrong and believe that
will become clear in any legal proceedings. I stand by my view that
there is absolutely no basis for the charges against me."
Write to Eric Sylvers at eric.sylvers@wsj.com and Sarah Kent at
sarah.kent@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 20, 2017 07:12 ET (12:12 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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