Italian prosecutors investigating
state-backed firm ENI SpA over the purchase of a Nigerian oil field
three years ago allege that at least half of the $1.1 billion paid was
used to bribe local politicians, intermediaries and others, according to
official documents and a person close to the investigation.
The Milan prosecutors have placed the
Italian oil company, its former chief executive Paolo Scaroni and CEO
Claudio Descalzi under investigation for alleged international
corruption surrounding the deal for the OPL 245 offshore oil field
concession.
ENI and both managers, neither of who has been charged, have denied any wrongdoing.
Calling on their United Kingdom (UK)
counterpart to assist in freezing suspect assets, Italian prosecutors
said in a letter to the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) seen by
Reuters that at least $533 million was paid to Nigerian officials and
intermediaries who helped secure the sale.
The case has been a setback for the
government of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, because Italy’s 39-year-old
leader hand-picked company veteran Descalzi to run Eni as part of a
recent management overhaul at the country’s state-controlled companies.
Renzi has publicly supported Descalzi and said no conclusions should be
drawn before the investigation is completed.
ENI and Royal Dutch Shell, which is not
under investigation, bought the rights to the OPL 245 offshore oil
licence block from the Nigerian government in 2011.
Production from the deepwater oil field
is expected to begin in 2016 with the field estimated to hold up to 9.23
billion barrels of crude, equivalent to nearly a quarter of the
country’s total proven reserves, according to industry figures.
An aide to Renzi told Reuters the case
involving Eni, which is Italy’s biggest company by market capitalisation
and the state’s biggest asset, was “not a big cause for concern at the
moment”.
As part of their investigation, the
Italian prosecutors in May asked the UK’s CPS to freeze $85 million in
assets related to a Nigerian company, Malabu Oil & Gas, that
prosecutors say was involved in the sale, according to a copy of the
official request sent by the Milan investigators and seen by Reuters.
In the letter, the Italian prosecutors
alleged that Scaroni and Descalzi oversaw the payments to parties who
helped secure the sale. In a second letter they alleged that some of the
ultimate recipients of alleged bribes used the money to buy aircraft
and armoured cars.
“We are investigating many money
transfers to many people in various countries who received sums that
vary from millions of dollars to thousands of dollars,” the prosecutors
said in the follow-up letter, seen by Reuters.
In response to the requests London’s
Southwark Crown Court last month granted an order to seize the $85
million in assets related to Malabu, according to a judicial source.
London’s Metropolitan Police has also
been investigating aspects of the Nigerian deal since last year. A
police spokesman said the inquiry into allegations of money laundering
is continuing.
Descalzi and Scaroni, in statements and
through their lawyers, denied that they were involved in any illegal
behaviour. Descalzi also told Eni employees in an email seen by Reuters
that he had not engaged in any wrongdoing.
After a board meeting last week, ENI
also reiterated that the company had not engaged in any wrongdoing and
that it had “full confidence that Descalzi had acted properly.”
The OPL 245 block licence has long been
the subject of dispute. It was first awarded a decade ago by military
dictator Sani Abacha to Malabu Oil & Gas for a publicly-stated $20
million.
After the death of Abacha, a new Nigerian government annulled the deal. Malabu’s licence was reinstated in 2006.
Reuters was not able to locate Malabu for comment, and it is unclear whether the company still exists.
The Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC), did not reply to questions sent by Reuters asking
about the investigation by Italian prosecutors.
Shell, which is not under investigation
in any case, released a statement saying: “Shell companies have acted at
all times in accordance with both Nigerian law and the terms of the OPL
245 resolution agreement with.”
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