By John Lee. The UK's Court of Appeal has reportedly overturned the conviction of Paul Bond, who was jailed last year in relation to the Unaoil bribery scandal in Iraq. Mr Bond (69), a former senior sales manager at SBM Offshore (SBM), had been sentenced to three and a half years in prison on two […]
By John Lee. Ziad Akle, Unaoil's territory manager for Iraq, has had his conviction for bribery quashed by the UK's Court of Appeal today (Friday). He had been sentenced to five years' imprisonment in July 2020 having been found guilty of paying over $500,000 in bribes to secure a $55-million contract to supply offshore mooring […]
Following a successful investigation and conviction of four individuals for corruption at Unaoil, the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has recovered criminal gains of almost £100,000 from a former senior executive. The full amount must now be paid into the public purse within 28 days. Earlier this year, the SFO was praised by HM Crown […]
Paul Bond has today been sentenced to three and half years' imprisonment for conspiring with others to bribe Iraqi public officials to secure lucrative oil contracts in post-occupation Iraq. Earlier this week, Bond, a former senior sales manager at SBM Offshore (SBM), was found guilty on two counts of conspiracy to give corrupt payments following […]
Former Unaoil executive sentenced for paying bribes to win $1.7-billion worth of contracts Basil Al Jarah has today been sentenced to three years and four months' imprisonment for paying in excess of $17m in bribes to dishonestly secure approximately $1.7bn worth of contracts in post-occupation Iraq. Al Jarah, Unaoil's former Iraq partner, conspired with others […]
Second former Unaoil executive sentenced for bribery in post-occupation Iraq Stephen Whiteley, Unaoil's former territory manager for Iraq, has today become the second Unaoil executive to be sentenced for paying over $500,000 in bribes to secure a $55m contract to supply offshore mooring buoys. He was sentenced by HHJ Beddoe to 3 years' imprisonment. This […]
Ziad Akle, Unaoil's territory manager for Iraq, has been sentenced to five years' imprisonment for paying over $500,000 in bribes to secure a $55m contract to supply offshore mooring buoys. [Update 10th Dec 2021: Akle's conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal.] The new buoys formed part of the post-occupation Iraqi government's "Master Plan" […]
By John Lee. The UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has secured convictions against two former oil executives who conspired to give corrupt payments to secure contracts in Iraq. A jury at Southwark Crown Court found Ziad Akle guilty on two counts and Stephen Whiteley guilty on one count of conspiracy to give corrupt payments. [Update […]
By John Lee. The UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has dropped its investigation into ABB linked to the Unaoil case. After a thorough and detailed review of the available evidence, the SFO concluded that this case did not meet the relevant test for prosecution as defined in the Code for Crown Prosecutors. The SFO announced […]
By John Lee. The trial has begun in London of three British businessmen accused of conspiring to pay bribes totalling $6m (£4.6m) to win contracts in Iraq worth $800 million. According to the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO), Monaco-based Unaoil bribed Iraqi officials to help Dutch-based SBM Offshore [Single Buoy Moorings], and Singapore's Leighton Offshore, […]
Australian construction giant CIMIC, formerly known as Leighton Holdings, has reportedly settled a long-running class action with investors over allegations its senior executives had knowledge of corrupt behaviour relating to the Unaoil bribery scandal that hit the company's share price. The class action alleged that CIMIC failed to comply with its continuous disclosure obligations and […]
Two brothers have pleaded guilty in the US to facilitating the payment of millions of dollars in bribes to officials in nine countries, including Iraq. Cyrus Ahsani, 51, and Saman Ahsani, 46, both of United Kingdom (UK), ran the Monaco-based oil and gas consultancy Unaoil. They are due to be sentenced on 20th April, 2020. […]
