Nigeria recovers $170 million from Halliburton Dick Cheney’s company

Federal Government on Wednesday said it has recovered $170.8 million from multinational companies and individuals who engaged in bribery and corruption in the course of operating in Nigeria.

The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Bello Adoke SAN who disclosed this at a ministerial press conference in Abuja said the money was recovered from Siemens, Julius Berger, Saipem, Technip and Halliburton Inc.

He however did not mention the names of the individual who paid part of the fines.

It will be recalled that Julius Berger had paid the sum of N4 billion for complicity in the Halliburton scandal, while Siemens had also paid N7 billion to the Federal Government as fine for bringing some Nigerian officials.

The minister said that Halliburton as a company paid $35 million while three of its subsidiaries coughed out $95 million as fine.

Adoke said that Shell Petroleum Development Company also paid $10 million for the offence committed by Panalpina. Panalpina was alleged to have bribed some Nigerian customs officials.

The minister said, “We also commenced the prosecution of individuals and multinationals companies indicted in the infamous Halliburton bribery scandal.

“As a result of government’s resolve to prosecute those indicted, Messrs. Julius Berger, Siemens Plc., Saipem, Technip, and Halliburton Inc. were charged to court.

To avert prosecution, these companies approached us with various settlement options for consideration.

“In resolving these cases, the ministry took due cognizance of the weaknesses of our penal provisions dealing with corporate liability, as well as the need to ensure their early resolution in the greater national interest.

“The ministry therefore adopted international best practices as has been practiced in other jurisdictions such as the United States of America by emphasizing on ‘restitution’ that would ensure direct benefit to the Nigerian Government as the ‘victim state’.”

Adoke said that another $130 million bribe money belonging to Nigeria was trapped in some banks in Geneva and Monaco.

He said that the multinational companies who lodged the money there had agreed to work with Nigeria to recover the money. He also said that a consultant had been appointed to work with the affected companies to recover the money and bring to Nigeria.

Another company, Japan Gasoline Corporation of Japan, the minister said was already talking to Nigeria with the aim of reaching an out-of-court settlement.

He explained that money and assets worth N191 billion had been recovered from a former Managing Director of Oceanic Bank, Mrs. Cecilia Ibru and her associated companies.

Adoke said that his ministry had paid N2.3 billion to lawyers for their services to the ministry during the year. Another N1.6 billion, he said, had also been paid to lawyers under the prison decongestion scheme in 2010.

Within the same year, Adoke said that over N8 billion had been paid out as judgment debt by the ministry in conjunction with the ministry of finance.

He gave an assurance that perpetrators of the Boko Haram crises would be prosecuted.

At present, he said, 70 cases were being prosecuted at the Federal High Court in Jos, Plateau State. The suspects included those who perpetrated crises in Jos.

Adoke said that the country received requests for mutual legal assistance from the US and the UK.

He said that the requests included extradition of certain persons indicted for offences against the laws of the UK and the US.

“I wish to report that such requests were received and treated with dispatch n accordance with demands