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‘Biggest bribery scandal’: US, UK, Australia launch probe into mass oil industry corruption
© Lucy
Nicholson / Reuters
RT,
1
April, 2016
An
investigation into a massive global oil bribery scandal has been
launched by authorities in the US, Britain, and Australia, after
leaked confidential files indicated that some of the world’s most
powerful corporations were part of the racket.
The
global investigation by authorities comes after the biggest leak of
confidential files in the history of the oil industry, obtained by
The Huffington Post, unveiled widespread corruption taking place in
oil-rich countries. The US Department of Justice, FBI, UK National
Crime Agency and Australian Federal Police are now jointly
investigating the allegations in what could become the world’s
biggest probe into corruption пallegations.
The
scandal is being revealed in a three-part series titled The
Bribe Factory,
which is the result of a six-month investigation by The Huffington
Post and Australia's Fairfax Media.
The
report’s first release disclosed apparent dodgy dealings in the
Middle East and North Africa. The second will focus on alleged
corruption in former Soviet states, and the final will focus on Asia
and Africa.
Citing
the trove of leaked documents, the report has revealed that
government contracts worth billions of dollars were awarded on the
b
Although
many outside the oil industry have never heard of Unaoil, it has
allegedly been participating in major illegal deals behind the
scenes, convincing Western corporations that they will not be able to
get contracts in oil-rich countries without its help.
The
company stands accused of portraying itself as a lobbyist and
charging major companies multi-million dollar fees in exchange for
bribing government officials in order to get good deals for the
corporations. According to the leaked documents, major international
companies across the US, Europe, Asia, and Australia have taken part
in dealings with Unaoil.
But
Unaoil wasn’t the only party at fault. The documents imply that
many of the corporations could have known exactly what was happening.
Among
the biggest names implicated are Samsung; Hyundai; US weapons
corporation Halliburton and its former subsidiary Kellogg, Brown &
Root; Texas firm National Oilwell Varco; Singapore conglomerate
Keppel; Norway’s Aker Kvaerner; Turkish joint venture GATE; and
Italian oil giant Eni.
The
information obtained by the publications includes hundreds of
thousands of emails to Unaoil’s chief executive, Cyrus Ahsani,
which show that managers and executives from Halliburton and Kellogg
Brown & Root, which split in 2007, knew or at least suspected
that Unaoil was acting illegally to win contracts in Kazakhstan.
Meanwhile,
managers from Eni, Spanish firm Tecnicas Reunidas, French firm
Technip, drilling giant MI-SWACO, and Rolls-Royce are shown to have
actively supported bribery and were offered – or pocketed – their
own kickbacks.
In
addition, US defense giant Honeywell and Australian firm Leighton
Offshore agreed to hide bribes inside fraudulent contracts in Iraq.
Until the moment Fairfax Media and The Huffington Post hit the publish button at 10pm on Wednesday, AEDT, our...fb.me/5b9z0MDD9
When
approached by The Huffington Post and Fairfax Media, the implicated
companies emphasized their anti-corruption policies and said they
were committed to investigating their dealings with Unaoil.
Unaoil
– which is incorporated in Monaco but based in the British Virgin
Islands – has denied taking part in any corruption. However, the
investigation's reporters paint a very different picture of Unaoil,
saying it has “almost perfected the art of corruption.”
“The
trove reveals how they rub shoulders with royalty, party in style,
mock anti-corruption agencies, and operate a secret network of fixers
and middlemen throughout the world's oil producing nations,” the
reporters wrote.
Aiding corruption & creating political instability in the Middle East
In
the first portion of the investigation released to the public, the
reporters stated that western companies worked with Iraq’s “new
elite” to
begin a “sustained
campaign of looting.”
“Unaoil
paid at least $25 million in bribes via middlemen to secure the
support of powerful officials – while complaining internally that
they were ‘a**holes, and greedy,’” the
report states.
It
goes on to state that government officials got large kickbacks and
that Unaoil “influenced
a Who's Who of the country’s oil industry” from
2004 to 2012, from the deputy prime minister to the oil minister and
beyond.
The
corruption also trickled over to neighborin
WikiLeaks
The Bribe Factory: How western multi-nationals from Rolls-Royce to Halliburton to bribed the world's governments http://www.theage.com.au/interactive/2016/the-bribe-factory/day-1/the-company-that-bribed-the-world.html …
The
report goes on to cover Unaoil’s dealings in North Africa, alleging
that before the overthrow of the Libyan government in 2011, Unaoil
made dodgy deals with officials, guaranteeing oil and gas contracts
for multi-national corporations.
The
report also states that similar dealings took place in Syria, with
Unaoil helping British oil company Petrofac secure deals with the
government.
Unaoil
also had a large presence in the Gulf states, working with
governments to strike lucrative contracts. The emails indicated that
the company bribed a powerful official referred to as “The
Big Cheese” in
Kuwait. In the United Arab Emirates, it apparently worked with
official with links to the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. Dodgy dealings
were also reported in Yemen.
The
report alleges that Unaoil's dealings have done far more damage than
simply breaking laws. By fueling corruption the company was
also “creating
political instability, turning citizens against their own
governments, and fueling the rage that would erupt during t
Here is the Huffington Post's video on this
Leaked emails reveal a global bribery scandal involving oil industry giant #Unaoilhttps://t.co/umcICxw2ua— Huffington Post (@HuffingtonPost) March 30, 2016
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