KBR KBR Inc

   DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

Italian oil-and-gas company Eni SpA (E, ENI.MI) and its former Dutch unit Snamprogretti Netherlands BV will pay a total $365 million to settle charges by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Justice Department in an alleged bribery scheme in which more than $180 million in bribes were funneled to Nigerian government officials in an effort to obtain contracts to build a liquefied-natural gas plant.

Eni and Snamprogretti consented to the settlement and court orders to jointly pay $125 million to settle the charges. Meanwhile, the Justice Department filed criminal charges against Snamprogretti, and the company has entered a deferred prosecution agreement and agreed to a penalty of $240 million.

The settlement brings the total paid to settle cases related to the bribery scheme to more than $1.28 billion from a joint venture of companies that also included Technip SA (TKPPY, TEC.FR), KBR Inc. (KBR) and its former parent Halliburton Co. (HAL).

Eni and Snamprogretti join a growing list of foreign companies hit with substantial fines for allegedly violating U.S. antibribery laws in third-world countries.

-By Tess Stynes, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2481; Tess.Stynes@dowjones.com