Update December 8th, 2010
CNN- Nigerian investigators say they have filed charges against former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and others connected to the energy services company Halliburton, accusing them of paying bribes to secure a lucrative natural gas project in the 1990s.
Cheney and nine others are accused of charges that include “conspiracy and distribution of gratification to public officials,” Femi Babafemi, a spokesman for the country’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, said Wednesday
The investigation is part of a long-running case involving Halliburton and a subsidiary firm, Kellogg, Brown and Root, over alleged bribes paid to Nigerian officials to secure $6 billion worth of contracts for a liquefied natural gas project in the Niger Delta.
The bribes allegedly amounted to $180 million between 1994 and 2004.
Kellogg, Brown and Root was one of four large international construction firms that built the natural gas plant.
The firm pleaded guilty in the United States last year and, together with Halliburton, reportedly reached a settlement of $579 million.
Investigations in Nigeria, however, have been ongoing, and there are allegations the bribes went all the way to the top, to aides, officials, and possibly then-President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Cheney’s lawyer has said in the past that there is no reason to suspect his client is guilty.
“This matter involves the activities of an international four-company joint venture (which included KBR, then a subsidiary of Halliburton) well over a decade ago,” said attorney Terrence O’Connell. “The Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission investigated that joint venture extensively and found no suggestion of any impropriety by Dick Cheney in his role of CEO of Halliburton.”
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December 2nd, 2010
Yahoo- For years, Democrats tried to punish Dick Cheney for his ties to Halliburton. Now Nigeria will seek to do it for them.
Nigerian authorities plan to file charges against Cheney in a case alleging bribery amounting to $180 million. Nigerian authorities have detained individuals from Halliburton’s Lagos office last week, AFP reports. Illegal payments were allegedly made to Nigerian officials in the course of planning construction of a natural gas plant in Nigeria.
A Nigerian judge will be asked next week to issue an arrest warrant for Cheney, who served as head of Halliburton before his vice presidency, AFP reports.
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Cheney’s connections to Halliburton were a source of scandal during his time in the White House because the company’s subsidiary was awarded major contracts to restore postwar Iraq even though no additional companies were permitted to bid for the contracts.
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Lagos, Nigeria (CNN) — Charges are possible in a Nigerian investigation into whether Halliburton, the American energy services company, paid bribes to secure a lucrative natural gas project in the 1990s, Nigerian investigators said Friday.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has not charged anyone in the case, and a spokesman did not say whether former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney — who ran Halliburton in the 1990s — was under investigation.
“If the summary of our legal opinion favors a sustainable charge, we will go ahead according to plan,” commission spokesman Femi Babafemi said. “It is on our plate to prosecute all those found liable in the Halliburton bribery case.”
Related- NewsRescue: Nigeria’s Nuhu Ribadu challenges US and its companies for Corruption in Africa At US Crimes Commission
The investigation is part of a long-running case involving Halliburton and a subsidiary firm, Kellogg, Brown and Root, over alleged bribes paid to Nigerian officials to secure $6 billion worth of contracts for a liquefied natural gas project in the Niger Delta.
The bribes allegedly amounted to $180 million between 1994 and 2004.
[smartads]
Kellogg, Brown and Root was one of four large international construction firms that built the natural gas plant.
The firm pleaded guilty in the United States last year and, together with Halliburton, reportedly reached a settlement of $579 million.
Investigations in Nigeria, however, have been ongoing, and there are allegations the bribes went all the way to the top, to aides, officials, and possibly then-President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Despite reports by media outlets that Nigerian officials plan to charge Cheney specifically, an attorney for the former vice president said there is no reason to suspect his client is guilty.
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“This matter involves the activities of an international four-company joint venture (which included KBR, then a subsidiary of Halliburton) well over a decade ago,” said attorney Terrence O’Connell. “The Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission investigated that joint venture extensively and found no suggestion of any impropriety by Dick Cheney in his role of CEO of Halliburton.
“Any suggestion of misconduct on his part, made now, years later, is entirely baseless.”
