Nigeria loses major corruption case against oil majesty
Despite damning evidence…
President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari.
Eni’s CEO, Claudio Descalzi.
Kaieteur News – Although the Nigerian government was armed with compelling evidence that linked Royal Dutch Shell and Italy’s Eni in a major case of alleged corruption to one of its oil blocks, a court recently ruled that no wrongdoing could be found. That ruling was handed down by a court in Milan on Wednesday.
According to Bloomberg, which reported on the case, the ruling brings to an end a three-year legal saga that greatly overcame Eni’s CEO Claudio Descalzi’s tenure. Italian prosecutors were hopeful that, with the evidence they had, they could give it away for eight years. But Descalzi and several former company executives, including Malcolm Brinded, who ran Shell’s exploration and production division at the time, and Paolo Scaroni, former CEO of Eni before Descalzi, were cleared of all charges corruption.
Prosecutors accused the named executives of being part of a deal in 2011 to secure an Offshore Oil Search License 245. They allegedly knew that much of the US $ 1.1 billion they deposited into an escrow account for the license is controlled by the Nigerian government. at the time and would have been paid as bribes. Unfortunately, several of the key witnesses called by Italian prosecutors failed to support those allegations when called to testify.
It should be noted that in 2018, through a separate trial, two referees were found guilty of corruption in connection with the above matter. It is also essential to note that one of Eni’s largest shareholders is the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance. It has de facto control of Eni by virtue of benefits held either directly or through the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti SpA (CDP), a prominent investment bank in Italy.
Following the ruling, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, who took office six years ago, expressed disappointment that the country had failed in its bid to secure US $ 1.1 billion in court-ordered damages from Eni and Shell, while add that the license oil resources at the heart of the case, OPL 245, remain undeveloped. Bloomberg reported that a representative of the Federal Republic of Nigeria had said that the country would wait to review the Italian court’s written ruling before considering its position.
In Italy, sentences are not final until appeals have been exhausted. It may take years before there is a final decision.
It should be noted that Eni initiated international arbitration proceedings against Nigeria in September, alleging that the government had breached its obligations by refusing to allow the company to develop the license, which will expire in May.
SETBACK FOR GLOBAL EVIDENCE
Bloomberg also noted in his report that the verdict represents a deterrent to Global Witness, the NGO that seeks to expose corruption and human rights abuses worldwide. Global Witness’s investigation revealed documents that informed Italian prosecutors’ decision to pursue the case.
In 2011, the Global Witness had reported that Shell and Eni had paid over US $ 1.1 billion in secret deals for the block located off the coast of Nigeria. After a lengthy NGO investigation, he was able to obtain documents that showed that this money did not go for the rights of the country’s natural resources to benefit the Nigerian people, as it should have done.
Instead, he approached convicted money launderer and former Oil Minister Dan Etete, who in 1998 had acquired ownership of the block through a secretly owned company, Malabu Oil and Gas . Global Witness said in a special report that, for six years, Shell denied having done anything wrong, and said the Nigerian government only paid rights to the bloc.
In 2015, Shell’s CEO, Ben Van Beurden, responded to the allegations by stating that the payments were “very moral” and “in accordance with Nigerian law and international practice.” However, what this carefully worded statement did not say is that Shell executives knew that the money would go to Malabu and Etete, and then likely flow to some of the country’s most powerful people.
Also in February 2016, Global Witness reported that Shell headquarters had been robbed by 50 police forces in a joint Dutch-Italian investigation into the deal. Global Witness was able to document the details of a phone call between Shell’s CEO Van Beurden and the then Chief Financial Officer Simon Henry, shortly after the raid, as his phone calls were wired by authorities from ‘ r The Netherlands.
Van Beurden suggested that Shell should not disclose the raid to shareholders, telling Henry: “The last thing you want of course is some kind of request to issue a stock exchange statement when we have nothing to say except we being asked to provide information. “He also told Henry:” don’t volunteer any unsolicited information, “to police investigating OPL 245 deal.
The Global Witness said the money paid for the block is equal to more than the African nation’s 2016 healthcare budget. It is also one and a half times what the United Nations says is needed now to respond to the current hunger crisis. Research shows that around 8.5 million people in Nigeria need humanitarian assistance, while 5.1 million Nigerians suffer from malnutrition. The deal, which allegedly paved the way for millions to be siphoned off to agents and middlemen in corrupt charges, also sparked law enforcement inquiries in six other countries.