| French investigates into nigerian halliburton corruption Original Source Link: (May no longer be active) http://www.gasandoil.com/goc/news/nta34447.htmhttp://www.gasandoil.com/goc/news/nta34447.htm
France investigates into corruption at Nigerian gas complex 10-10-03 A French judge is looking into allegations of corruption during construction of a natural gas complex in Nigeria by a consortium including a subsidiary of US oil-field services firm Halliburton, judicial officials said. The investigating judge, Renaud Van Ruymbeke, is looking into who may have benefited from nearly $ 200 mm in commissions allegedly handed out from 1990 to 2002, the officials said. The companies in the consortium are France's Technip (TKP), Italy's Snamprogetti, Japan's JGC (1963.TO) and Kellogg Brown & Root, a Halliburton subsidiary. US Vice President Dick Cheney was CEO of Houston, Texas-based Halliburton from 1995 through 2000.
The inquiry in France is for "misuse of funds" and "corruption of foreign public agents," the officials said. A spokeswoman at Halliburton headquarters in Houston said she was checking into the matter and would try to provide a comment later from the consortium, TSKJ. Marina Toncelli, a Technip spokeswoman, said her company had fully cooperated withFrench justice officials since the opening of a preliminary inquiry last year. The inquiry stemmed from a separate, years-long investigation into former French state-run oil giant Elf Aquitaine, according to a report that was confirmed by judicial officials. The Elf corruption scandal has tarnished the reputations of many former executives as well as a former foreign minister, Roland Dumas.
Halliburton's operations in Nigeria have already run into trouble. In May, the company disclosed in a federal filing that it paid a Nigerian tax official $ 2.4 mm in bribes to get favourable tax treatment. The company fired several employees and stressed none of its senior offices were involved. Halliburton has said it was cooperating with a review by the Security and Exchange Commission. Halliburton, the world's second-largest oil-field services company, has 92,000 employees worldwide. The company -- run by Cheney before he became the vice presidential candidate in 2000 -- has been at the centre of a debate about lack of competition for contracts on Iraq reconstruction.
Source: AP
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