Federal Bureau of Investigation have confirmed that
construction giant Julius Berger's foreign affiliate
Bilfinger SE, has agreed to pay N5.1 billion ($32m)
penalty for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices
Act.
Bilfinger SE, German-based international engineering
and services company, was charged with bribing
Nigerian government officials to obtain and retain
contracts related to work for the Eastern Gas
Gathering System (EGGS). A project valued at $387
million.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of
the Justice Department's Criminal Division and
Assistant Director in Charge Valerie Parlave of the
FBI's Washington Field Office made the
announcement.
As part of the agreed resolution, the department
Tuesday filed a three-count criminal information in
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
charging Bilfinger with violating and conspiring to
violate the FCPA's anti-bribery provisions. The
department and Bilfinger agreed to resolve the
charges by entering into a deferred prosecution
agreement for a term of three years. In addition to
the monetary penalty, Bilfinger agreed to implement
rigorous internal controls, continue cooperating fully
with the department, and retain an independent
corporate compliance monitor for at least 18 months.
The agreement acknowledges Bilfinger's cooperation
with the department and its remediation efforts.
According to court documents, from late 2003
through June 2005, Bilfinger conspired with Willbros
Group Inc. and others to make corrupt payments
totaling more than $6 million to Nigerian
government officials to assist in obtaining and
retaining contracts related to the EGGS project.
Bilfinger and Willbros formed a joint venture to bid
on the EGGS project and inflated the price of the
joint venture's bid by three percent to cover the cost
of paying bribes to Nigerian officials. As part of the
conspiracy, Bilfinger employees bribed Nigerian
officials with cash that Bilfinger employees sent from
Germany to Nigeria. At another point in the
conspiracy, when Willbros employees encountered
difficulty obtaining enough money to make their
share of the bribe payments, Bilfinger loaned them
$1 million, with the express purpose of paying bribes
to the Nigerian officials.
On September 14, 2006, Jim Bob Brown, a former
Willbros executive, pleaded guilty to one count of
conspiracy to violate the FCPA in connection with his
role in making corrupt payments to Nigerian
government officials to obtain and retain the EGGS
contract and in connection with his role in making
corrupt payments in Ecuador. Brown was sentenced
on January 28, 2010, to serve 12 months and one day
in prison, to be followed by two years of supervised
release, and was ordered to pay a $17,500 fine.
On November 5, 2007, Jason Steph, also a former
Willbros executive, pleaded guilty to one count of
conspiracy to violate the FCPA in connection with his
role in making corrupt payments to Nigerian
government officials to obtain and retain the EGGS
contract. Steph was sentenced on January 28, 2010,
to serve 15 months in prison, to be followed by two
years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay a
$2,000 fine.
On May 14, 2008, Willbros Group Inc. and Willbros
International Inc. entered into a deferred prosecution
agreement and agreed to pay a $22 million criminal
penalty in connection with the company's payment
of bribes to government officials in Nigeria and
Ecuador. On March 30, 2012, the government moved
to dismiss the charges against Willbros on the
grounds that Willbros had satisfied its obligations
under the deferred prosecution agreement, and on
April 2, 2012, the court granted the United States'
motion.
On December 19, 2008, Kenneth Tillery, a former
Willbros executive, was charged with conspiring to
make and making bribe payments to Nigerian and
Ecuadoran officials in connection with the EGGS
project and pipeline projects in Ecuador and
conspiring to launder the bribe payments. Tillery
remains a fugitive. The charges against Tillery are
merely accusations, and he is presumed innocent
unless and until proven guilty.
On November 12, 2009, Paul Grayson Novak, a
former Willbros consultant, pleaded guilty to one
count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and one
substantive count of violating the FCPA in connection
with his role in making corrupt payments to Nigerian
government officials to obtain and retain the EGGS
contract. Novak was sentenced on May 3, 2013, to
serve 15 months in prison, to be followed by two
years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay a
$1 million fine.
The case was investigated by the FBI's Washington
Field Office and its team of special agents dedicated
to the investigation of foreign bribery cases. The case
is being prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorney Laura N.
Perkins of the Criminal Division's Fraud Section.
[Source: PM News Lagos]
Sent From David Aniemeka
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