Dick Cheney faces bribery scandal charges in Nigeria

BBC News - Dick Cheney faces bribery scandal charges in Nigeria

2 December 2010 Last updated at 22:34 GMT

Dick Cheney faces bribery scandal charges in Nigeria

Nigeria's anti-corruption agency is to charge former US Vice-President Dick Cheney over a bribery scandal that involves a former subsidiary of energy firm Halliburton.

The case centres on engineering firm KBR, which admitted bribing officials.

A lawyer for Mr Cheney said allegations he was involved in the scandal were "entirely baseless".

Mr Cheney was Halliburton's chief executive before becoming vice-president to George W Bush in 2001.

A spokesman for the anti-corruption agency, Femi Babafemi, said the charges were likely to be brought against Mr Cheney next week.

Mr Babafemi said the charges were "not unconnected to his role as the chief executive of Halliburton".

KBR last year pleaded guilty to paying $180m (£115m) in bribes to Nigerian officials prior to 2007, when it was a subsidiary of Halliburton. The firm agreed to pay $579m (£372m) in fines related to the case in the US.

But Nigeria, along with France and Switzerland, has conducted its own investigations into the case.

Mr Cheney's lawyer, Terence O'Donnell, said US investigators had "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," Mr O'Donnell said.

Office raid

The bribes concerned the construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in southern Nigeria.

KBR and Halliburton have now split, and Halliburton says it is not connected with the case against KBR.

Halliburton denies involvement in the allegations.

It has complained that a raid on its office last week by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission officials was "an affront against justice".

Ten people were detained for questioning and later released.

A prosecutor quoted by the Agence France-Presse news agency said those charged would include former and current leaders of Halliburton and officials from firms in a consortium involved in the LNG plant.

Nigeria is a member of the oil cartel Opec and is one of the world's biggest oil exporters.

Cheney never actually ran Halliburton, he was just a front man with political connections.

he must REALLY be corrupt for the Nigerians to call HIM corrupt.

He (Chaney) and associates, probably screwed the Nigerians more than they got to him and/or his companies. No honor among thieves.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

BBC News - Dick Cheney faces bribery scandal charges in Nigeria

2 December 2010 Last updated at 22:34 GMT

Dick Cheney faces bribery scandal charges in Nigeria

Nigeria's anti-corruption agency is to charge former US Vice-President Dick Cheney over a bribery scandal that involves a former subsidiary of energy firm Halliburton.

The case centres on engineering firm KBR, which admitted bribing officials.

A lawyer for Mr Cheney said allegations he was involved in the scandal were "entirely baseless".

Mr Cheney was Halliburton's chief executive before becoming vice-president to George W Bush in 2001.

A spokesman for the anti-corruption agency, Femi Babafemi, said the charges were likely to be brought against Mr Cheney next week.

Mr Babafemi said the charges were "not unconnected to his role as the chief executive of Halliburton".

KBR last year pleaded guilty to paying $180m (£115m) in bribes to Nigerian officials prior to 2007, when it was a subsidiary of Halliburton. The firm agreed to pay $579m (£372m) in fines related to the case in the US.

But Nigeria, along with France and Switzerland, has conducted its own investigations into the case.

Mr Cheney's lawyer, Terence O'Donnell, said US investigators had "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," Mr O'Donnell said.

Office raid

The bribes concerned the construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in southern Nigeria.

KBR and Halliburton have now split, and Halliburton says it is not connected with the case against KBR.

Halliburton denies involvement in the allegations.

It has complained that a raid on its office last week by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission officials was "an affront against justice".

Ten people were detained for questioning and later released.

A prosecutor quoted by the Agence France-Presse news agency said those charged would include former and current leaders of Halliburton and officials from firms in a consortium involved in the LNG plant.

Nigeria is a member of the oil cartel Opec and is one of the world's biggest oil exporters.

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What a farce. The Nigerian anti-corruption commission is just looking for a big juicy bribe.
In Nigeria one can't buy loaf of bread without bribing someone.
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Hope it goes through the legal process and he gets locked up. :)

Oh, the irony...

What do you want to bet nothing comes from this. Money and power will prevail and he will continue to do as he has always done.
Jon

The Nigerians will get a confession out of him. Waterboarding is bound to still be legal there.

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Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

Dick Cheney faces bribery scandal charges in Nigeria

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Not a cheney fan (unfortunately for the rest of the world George only winged him in his arse) but "Nigeria" raising corruption issues?

SURELY THEY HAVE TO BE FUCKING JOKING!

I think this may be a case of "it takes one to know one". :)

The company that Dick Cheney ran prior to becoming Vice President of the United States was atop the tongue of liberals each time his company was awarded a contract in Iraq.



Now the company's name, Halliburton, is being spoken somewhere else: Nigeria.



According to a story filed late Wednesday, Cheney will be indicted in a Nigerian bribery case as part of an investigation into an alleged $180 million bribery scandal.



"Last week, Nigeria arrested at least 23 officials from companies including Halliburton, Saipem, Technip and a former subsidiary of Panalpina Welttransport Holding AG in connection with alleged illegal payments to Nigerian officials.

Those detained were all freed on bail on Nov. 29," Bloomberg News' Elisha Bala-Gbogbo wrote.


"Authorities in the West African nation are probing Halliburton, Saipem and Technip for the alleged payment of $180 million in bribes to win a $6 billion liquefied natural-gas contract," Bala-Gbogbo added. "Panalpina is being investigated for illegal payments it allegedly made to Nigerian customs officials on behalf of Royal Dutch Shell Plc."



The prosecuting counsel for the country's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission said that indictments will be handed down in the next three days and that an arrest warrant for Cheney "will be issued and transmitted through Interpol."



Adds Bloomberg, "Obla said charges will be filed against current and former chief executive officers of Halliburton, including Cheney, who was CEO from 1995 to 2000, and its former unit KBR Inc., based in Houston, Texas; Technip SA, Europe’s second-largest oilfield- services provider; Eni SpA, Italy’s biggest oil company; and Saipem Construction Co., a unit of Eni. Obla didn’t identify the former officials whom he said held office when the alleged bribes were paid."


A spokesman for Cheney declined to comment.
The US Securities and Exchange Committee probe focused on the deal as early as 2004. Wrote The Washington Post at the time:



The Nigerian project, started in the early 1990s, was worth almost $5 billion to TSKJ, a partnership that included a KBR predecessor, as well as companies from France, Japan and the Netherlands.



At issue are payments made to Tristar, a Gibraltar company that had a consulting arrangement with a corporation formed by TSKJ to "administer the contracts and execute the work" in Nigeria, a Halliburton spokeswoman said in response to questions.



KBR, the engineering and construction subsidiary of Halliburton, was formed when Halliburton acquired Dresser Industries Inc. in 1998. It was a combination of Halliburton's Brown & Root and Dresser's M.W. Kellogg Co. Officials from the SEC and Cheney's office declined to comment. Early on Thursday, Halliburton said they hadn't seen the new charges, but still denied their involvement.


"Halliburton's oil-field services operations in Nigeria have never in any way been part of the LNG project and none of the Halliburton employees have ever had any connection to or participation in that project," Tara Mullee Agard, a spokeswoman for the Houston-based company, said in an e-mailed response to Bloomberg.



Added Bloomberg: "Halliburton Co., the world's second- largest oilfield-services provider, said it hasn't seen any amended charges by Nigerian authorities who plan to indict current and former employees in a bribery scandal."

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Originally Posted by FarangRed

atop the tongue of liberals each time his company was awarded a contract in Iraq.

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Halliburton Watch


Was? wadya mean Was? :chitown:

He'll get away with it. Probably get a state funeral as well, the thieving c*nt.

Hopefully a hanging offence.

He won't be going to jail in any foreign country- National security considerations alone dictate that. Mores the pity.