Wojciech Chodan, 72, admitted to Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) violations for bribes he and others paid from 1994 to 2004, after they met at “crucial junctures” with successive holders of a top-level office in Nigeria’s executive branch, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement.
The bribes were paid to get contracts for a KBR-run joint venture to build and expand Nigeria’s Bonny Island liquefied natural gas terminal. KBR sought to avoid an FCPA breach by using shell companies in Portugal and not appointing U.S. citizens to run them, according to previous court filings.
KBR and ex-parent Halliburton Co already reached a total U.S. settlement over Bonny Island of $579 million. As part of the 2007 separation, Halliburton agreed to cover KBR’s Bonny Island liabilities, and Britain’s Serious Fraud Office is in talks with a local KBR subsidiary over a settlement.
The joint venture partners included Japan’s JGC Corp, France’s Technip SA and a unit of Italy’s Saipem — the latter two reached settlements with U.S. investigators this year.
Chodan reported to former KBR chief executive Albert “Jack” Stanley, who pleaded guilty in September 2008 to conspiring to violate the FCPA for his participation in the bribery scheme.
Nigerian anti-corruption police said last week they planned to file charges against former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, a former Halliburton CEO, over the scheme.
Chodan, after being extradited from the United Kingdom on Friday, pleaded guilty on Monday in U.S. District Court in Houston to one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA.
Sentencing is set for February 22, 2011, when Chodan faces up to five years in prison. Chodan has also agreed to forfeit $726,885, and assets frozen in his Swiss bank account will be transferred to the United States, a court document said.
The U.S. Justice Department said Chodan had recommended that the joint venture hire a man named Jeffrey Tesler and a Japanese trading company to pay the Nigerian bribes. The joint venture paid $132 million to a Gibraltar company controlled by Tesler, and $50 million to the trading company, the department added.
Tesler was indicted in February 2009 on FCPA-related charges for his alleged participation in the scheme, and the United States has requested his extradition from Britain.
Source: Reuters