ADVERTISEMENT
  • The Membership Club
  • PT Hausa
  • About Us
  • Advert Rates
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
Sunday, April 18, 2021
Premium Times Nigeria
  • Home
  • COVID-19
  • News
    • Headline Stories
    • Top News
    • More News
    • Foreign
  • Investigations
  • Business
    • News Reports
    • Financial Inclusion
    • Analysis and Data
    • Business Specials
    • Opinion
    • Oil/Gas Reports
      • FAAC Reports
      • Revenue
  • Opinion
  • Health
    • News Reports
    • Investigations
    • Data and Infographics
    • Health Specials
    • Features
    • Events
    • Primary Health Tracker
  • Agriculture
    • News Report
    • Research & Innovation
    • Data & Infographics
    • Special Reports/Features
    • Investigations
    • Interviews
    • Markets
  • Arts/Life
    • Arts/Books
    • Kannywood
    • Lifestyle
    • Music
    • Nollywood
    • Travel
  • Sports
    • Football
    • More Sports News
    • Sports Features
  • Projects
    • Parliament Watch
    • Panama Papers
    • Paradise Papers
    • AGAHRIN
  • Home
  • COVID-19
  • News
    • Headline Stories
    • Top News
    • More News
    • Foreign
  • Investigations
  • Business
    • News Reports
    • Financial Inclusion
    • Analysis and Data
    • Business Specials
    • Opinion
    • Oil/Gas Reports
      • FAAC Reports
      • Revenue
  • Opinion
  • Health
    • News Reports
    • Investigations
    • Data and Infographics
    • Health Specials
    • Features
    • Events
    • Primary Health Tracker
  • Agriculture
    • News Report
    • Research & Innovation
    • Data & Infographics
    • Special Reports/Features
    • Investigations
    • Interviews
    • Markets
  • Arts/Life
    • Arts/Books
    • Kannywood
    • Lifestyle
    • Music
    • Nollywood
    • Travel
  • Sports
    • Football
    • More Sports News
    • Sports Features
  • Projects
    • Parliament Watch
    • Panama Papers
    • Paradise Papers
    • AGAHRIN
Premium Times Nigeria
BUA Group Ad BUA Group Ad BUA Group Ad
ADVERTISEMENT
U.S. investigates oil firm for allegedly bribing Nigerians with $100 million

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. investigates oil firm for allegedly bribing Nigerians with $100 million

byOladeinde Olawoyin
August 31, 2017
3 min read

Indications emerged Wednesday that the China Petroleum and Chemical Corp., known as Sinopec, is being investigated by the United States’ authorities over allegations of bribe payments totalling $100 million to Nigerian officials to resolve a business dispute.

According to Bloomberg investigations, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Justice Department, are investigating claims that lawyers acting as middlemen for Sinopec allegedly funnelled illicit payments to the yet-to-be-named Nigerians from its Swiss unit through New York and California.

The report noted that the payments were allegedly meant to resolve a $4 billion dispute between Addax Petroleum unit in Geneva and the Nigerian government over capital costs like drilling, tax breaks and royalties between the company and Nigeria’s oil corporation, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.

Sinopec bought Addax in 2009 for about $7.8 billion in order to build a corporate presence in Geneva and expand its oil production in Africa.

Earlier, beginning in 2001, Addax had been operating in Nigeria under a deal with the Nigerian government which saw it benefit from a Side Letter agreement that granted it tax breaks and reimbursement for capital costs.

But trouble started in 2014 when the Nigerian government decided that the Side Letter should no longer apply and demanded repayment of $3 billion of past benefits from Addax.

By the end of 2014, details of the investigations revealed that Addax had filed a lawsuit against the government to protest the decision as it also sought reimbursement of at least $1 billion from the Nigerian authorities, contending that the NNPC, in a practice known as “overlifting”, had taken more than its share of crude allotments.

Little was known about the case until allegations of bribery surfaced in January of this year after Deloitte, an auditing firm, resigned as Addax’s auditor because it couldn’t obtain “satisfactory explanations” for $80 million paid to an engineering company for Nigerian construction projects in 2015.

The auditing firm said that amount appeared excessive for the work performed “and their purpose and timing raise issues which have not been resolved.”

RelatedNews

NDDC: FG starts physical verification phase of forensic audit – Minister

Tourism association president, Saleh Rabo, is dead

Four football matches to watch this weekend

Clay master Nadal sent packing from Monte Carlo Masters

Investigations, however, revealed that on May 25, 2015, shortly after many of those payments were allegedly made, Addax and the Nigerian government reached a settlement that was approved by the Nigerian High Court.

Sahara Reporters, a Nigerian online platform, reported that former President Goodluck Jonathan, with just three days left in office, approved the settlement at the urging of the then Attorney General, Bello Adoke. Mr. Jonathan’s agreement validated the original terms of the Side Letter, effectively nullifying Nigeria’s demand that Addax repay $3 billion, a source told Bloomberg.

Meanwhile, the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, left the original terms of the Side Letter intact but planned to revoke its terms effective Jan. 1, 2016, a decision that would deny Addax at least $1 billion in future benefits and end reimbursement claims.

Dangote adbanner 728x90_2 (1)

It is, however, unclear if there’s any other litigation pending between Addax and Nigeria.

When contacted, officials of the Nigerian government and the NNPC declined comments.

Payments details

In its filing, Deloitte revealed additional payments made by Addax from 2015 exceeding $20 million, ostensibly to “legal advisers” in Nigeria and the U.S. from bank accounts in Nigeria and the Isle of Man, a British crown dependency.

Sinopec [Photo Credit: Menintalks]
Sinopec [Photo Credit: Menintalks]

“(Deloitte) received a number of whistle-blowing allegations from within and outside Addax, some of which allege that such payments have been made to bribe foreign government officials and that certain amounts have been embezzled by certain members of management within Addax Petroleum Group,” the firm said.

Trouble started in February when Geneva prosecutor Yves Bertossa began a probe into Deloitte’s allegations, prompting Swiss law enforcement officials to conduct a raid on the Geneva offices of Addax in March. Addax CEO Zhang Yi and Chief Legal Officer Guus Klusener were jailed under preventative detention, as allowed under Swiss law. They were, however, released three weeks later.

ADVERTISEMENT

Barely four months later, Mr. Bertossa closed the probe but neither the company nor its executives were charged. Although he criticised the company for what he called sloppy accounting, he said that no criminal intent could be established, adding that Addax had taken steps to overhaul its staffing and anti-corruption processes.

But the U.S. authorities are looking into whether payments handled by an unidentified Nigerian lawyer who is a member of the California bar were used to pay some of the alleged bribes. A source told Bloomberg that the lawyer was hired to advise Addax executives on the terms of the settlement with the Nigerian government.

According to a Bloomberg’s source, the U.S. probes are in their early stages, and no action is imminent. The SEC is handling its inquiry through its Los Angeles office, and the Justice Department investigation is being led by the U.S. attorney’s office.

Earlier in November 2012, Total of France agreed the $2.5 billion sale of a minority stake, put at about 20 per cent of its stake in a Nigerian oilfield, to Sinopec.

The OML 138 oil block includes the Usan oilfield, which began producing in February 2012, and is jointly owned with Chevron, Exxon and Canada’s Nexen.

In January 2017, the NNPC awarded its 2017 crude oil term contracts to 39 companies.

The contracts covering about 1.31 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil were awarded to 18 Nigerian companies, 11 international trading houses, five foreign refineries, three national oil companies and two “NNPC Group trading arms,” the firm said in a statement. Sinopec was among the winners.

  • WhatsApp
  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print
  • Telegram
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Pocket

Support PREMIUM TIMES' journalism of integrity and credibility

Good journalism costs a lot of money. Yet only good journalism can ensure the possibility of a good society, an accountable democracy, and a transparent government.

For continued free access to the best investigative journalism in the country we ask you to consider making a modest support to this noble endeavour.

By contributing to PREMIUM TIMES, you are helping to sustain a journalism of relevance and ensuring it remains free and available to all.

Donate


TEXT AD: To advertise here . Call Willie +2347088095401...


JOIN THE CONVERSATION

  • Disqus (0)
premiumtimes



PT Mag Campaign AD

Previous Post

Hajj 2017: Saudi authorities move sick pilgrims to Arafat by “special arrangements”

Next Post

‎EFCC prosecuting own officials for alleged corruption – Magu

Oladeinde Olawoyin

Oladeinde Olawoyin

Oladeinde Olawoyin reports Business & Economy, Development and Lagos Metro at PREMIUM TIMES. A First Class graduate of Mass Communication from the University of Ilorin, Ilorin, he was nominated in the journalism category of The Future Awards Africa in 2017. Aside maintaining a column titled ‘SATURDAY SATIRE’, he also writes art and culture pieces on weekends. Twitter: @Ola_deinde

More News

COVID-19: Coronavirus

COVID-19: Globally, over 3 million people dead, 140 million infected

April 18, 2021
Protesters at Lekki Toll Gate

Lekki Tollgate Shooting: At least 10 people killed – Witness

April 18, 2021
Minister of Communication, Dr Isa Ali Pantami [PHOTO CREDIT: isaalipantami]

‘I have changed several positions,’ Pantami says about past comments supporting extremism

April 18, 2021
NUJ President, Christopher Isiguzo

NUJ berates media owners for non-payment of journalists’ salaries

April 17, 2021
Nigerian Police officers on duty [Photo credit: Today.ng]

Suspected bandits attack council chairman, kill police orderly

April 17, 2021
Over 1 million jobs will be provided from digital switch-over – FG

Over 1 million jobs will be provided from digital switch-over – FG

April 17, 2021
Next Post
Magu’s lawyer swears affidavit, insists Justice Salami made controversial ‘regret’ statement

‎EFCC prosecuting own officials for alleged corruption - Magu

‎Uber driver attempts suicide over N90,000 debt – Police

‎Uber driver attempts suicide over N90,000 debt - Police

Discussion about this post

Search

#EndSARS: Latest Updates




Polaris Bank


JAIZ Ad


Explore Akwa Ibom Ad


Explore Akwa Ibom Ad


Access Bank Ad


NITDA Ad





Glo Ad

Subscribe to News via Email

Enter your email address and receive notifications of news by email.

Join 1,653,449 other subscribers.

Advertisement






netherland biz school Advert



Zenith Advert

ADVERTISEMENT

Our Digital Network

  • PT Hausa
  • Election Centre
  • Human Trafficking Investigation
  • Centre for Investigative Journalism
  • National Conference
  • Press Attack Tracker
  • PT Academy
  • Dubawa
  • LeaksNG
  • Campus Reporter

Resources

  • Oil & Gas Facts
  • List of Universities in Nigeria
  • LIST: Federal Unity Colleges in Nigeria
  • NYSC Orientation Camps in Nigeria
  • Nigeria’s Federal/States’ Budgets since 2005
  • Malabu Scandal Thread
  • World Cup 2018
  • Panama Papers Game
  • Our Digital Network
  • About Us
  • Resources
  • Projects
  • Data & Infographics
  • DONATE

All content is Copyrighted © 2020 The Premium Times, Nigeria

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • COVID-19
  • News
    • Headline Stories
    • Top News
    • More News
    • Foreign
  • Investigations
  • Business
    • News Reports
    • Financial Inclusion
    • Analysis and Data
    • Business Specials
    • Opinion
    • Oil/Gas Reports
      • FAAC Reports
      • Revenue
  • Agriculture
    • News Report
    • Research & Innovation
    • Data & Infographics
    • Special Reports/Features
    • Investigations
    • Interviews
    • Markets
  • Arts/Life
    • Arts/Books
    • Kannywood
    • Lifestyle
    • Music
    • Nollywood
    • Travel
  • Sports
    • Football
    • More Sports News
    • Sports Features
  • Projects
    • Panama Papers
    • Paradise Papers
    • Parliament Watch
    • AGAHRIN
  • Opinion
  • PT Hausa
  • The Membership Club
  • Dubawa
    • Dubawa NG
  • About Us
    • Advert Rates
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
  • Digital Store
  • DONATE

All content is Copyrighted © 2020 The Premium Times, Nigeria

Our website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.