Posts under ‘Bribery’

Emails exchanged between senior Shell staff including John Copleston and Guy Colegate show they knew a massive payment would go to convicted money launderer and former oil minister Dan Etete.

UPDATED SUNDAY 4 NOVEMBER 2018

By John Donovan

During a wiretapped telephone conversation held on 17 February 2016 between Royal Dutch Shell Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden and Simon Henry, his then CFO, BvB made reference to what he described as “really unhelpful emails” relating to the Shell/Eni Nigerian corruption scandal.

The call took place hours after Shell’s HQ building in The Hague was raided by authorities investigating the OPL 245 Nigerian oil deal. Two middle men have already been found guilty of involvement in the $1.3 billion corruption scandal. read more

Emilio Parodi:

MILAN (Reuters) – Eni made no thorough background checks on a middleman it hired to broker a $1.3 billion Nigerian acquisition, a former board member of the Italian oil group told a Milan court.

Milan prosecutors allege bribes totaling around $1.1 billion were paid, including to middleman Emeka Obi, in the 2011 purchase by Eni and Anglo-Dutch peer Royal Dutch Shell of Nigeria’s OPL 245 offshore oilfield.

The prosecutors allege the bribes were paid to win the license to explore the field which, because of disputes, has never entered into production. Shell expects the landmark corruption trial to last many months. read more

By John Donovan

Shell is a major investor in Putin’s Russia, which uses revenues from hydrocarbon sales to finance illegal and immoral wars against Ukraine and Syria. Not to mention the murder of Russian and UK citizens using outlawed radioactive and chemical weapons.

Shell’s main business partner in Russia is Gazprom, whose board is filled with former KGB and other questionable characters.

Shell is partnering with Gazprom on Sakhalin 2, the Nordstream II pipeline and the Baltic LNG project. read more

The Premium Times report (below) on the MALABU SCANDAL mentions a Shell internal memo from Donny Ching that John Donovan recently supplied to Reuters, who confirmed its authenticity with Shell. 

MALABU SCANDAL: Shell, Eni officials’ trial continues as anti-corruption group head appears before court: Premium Times: 19 Oct 2018

National Gallery loses Shell funding after protests: The Times: 20 Oct 2018

Shell ends National Gallery sponsorship – to delight of campaigners: The Guardian: 19 Oct 2018

Shell Picks a Digital Platform to Build Its AI Future Upon: Journal of Petroleum Technology: 19 Oct 2018

Shell to invest up to $2 bln annually to explore, produce oil in Brazil through 2025 -report read more

Shell Legal Director Donny Ching (above) effectively outlaws internal discussion among Shell staff of the first chilling verdicts in the OPL 245 trial.

It is a heavyweight ask directed at all Shell staff, effectively outlawing internal discussion of the OPL 245 litigation, when the ask in question comes from the Legal Director and board member of Royal Dutch Shell Plc. Who would dare, under the circumstances, to discuss such a self-evidently taboo subject with colleagues? 

RELATED REUTERS ARTICLE

By John Donovan

Printed below is a leaked Shell internal memo sent to all Shell staff by Donny Ching, Legal Director of Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

It provides proof of the understandable great sensitivity attached to the criminal trials in Milan Italy stemming from the Nigerian OPL 245 corruption scandal.

The two middlemen defendants in the fast-track OPL 245 trial cited by Mr Ching have already been found guilty and sent to jail for four years.

In his message to all Shell staff, Mr Ching asks them not to engage in speculation on the verdicts on middlemen Emeka Obi and Gianluca di Nardo and how they might relate to the trial involving Shell and four of Shell’s “former employees.” Two of them being former MI6 people hired by Shell, as confirmed by RDS CEO Ben van Beurden. read more

NO, IT’S NOT MALCOLM BRINDED. HIS BRIBERY & CORRUPTION TRIAL (RE OPL 245) ALSO RELATING TO NIGERIA, IS STILL IN PROGRESS. 

Those sentenced alongside the SPDC managing director are Shell’s Secretary and Head of legal and the Deputy Country Head of Legal/Managing Counsel Global litigation sub-Sahara Africa.The judge directed the Nigerian Police Force and other law enforcement to effect immediate arrest of the aforementioned Shell officials who were absent in court and send them to prison.

By Ernest Chinwo in Port Harcourt: OCTOBER 10, 2018

A Port Harcourt High Court yesterday sentenced the Managing Director of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Mr. Osagie Okunbor, and two others to three months’ imprisonment with hard labour for disobeying court order.

But reacting to the court judgment, the SPDC’s spokesman, Bamidele Odugbesan, said the oil giant did not accept the judgment and had appealed it. 

“We do not accept that SPDC has disobeyed any lawful order of court and have accordingly appealed this judgement.  read more

Nigerian Emeka Obi and Italian Gianluca Di Nardo sentenced to four years in prison as judge orders seizure of more than $120m: …this judgment will send shivers down the corporate spines of the oil industry — and will surely alarm Shell and Eni employees and shareholders who have been repeatedly told that there was nothing amiss with the OPL 245 deal.

• Ben Chapman
• Friday 21 September 2018

Italian prosecutors allege that hundreds of millions of dollars from the 2011 sale of a field was distributed as bribes ( Reuters )

Two middlemen have each been sentenced to four years in prison for corruption offences in the first ruling of a huge bribery trial involving oil giants Shell and Eni. A judge also ordered the seizure of more than $120m from the pair.

Nigerian Emeka Obi and Italian Gianluca Di Nardo were convicted of international corruption by a Milan court for their role in a $1.1bn deal for rights to one of Nigeria’s most promising oil blocks. read more

Malcolm Brinded, standing trial for Corruption in Italy over Nigerian OPL 245 oil deal, a key figure in many Shell scandals, including the tragic deaths on Brent Bravo.

EMAIL TO ALL MP’s: ON 1st OCT, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL CEO BEN VAN BEURDEN HAD ADVANCE SIGHT OF THE TOXIC FACTS SET OUT HEREIN. NO LEGAL ACTION HAS BEEN TAKEN TO STOP YOU SEEING THIS. 

Although I am not one of your constituents, I hope you agree that the safety of UK offshore workers is a matter of importance to ALL MP’s. Some unfortunate Royal Dutch Shell workers have already lost their lives. More lives are at stake. Please at least glance through the information below, which includes my name and address. 

SHELL NORTH SEA PLATFORM WORKER DEATHS DESERVING A FULLY INFORMED PUBLIC INQUIRY

Just how bad does has a company have to be before the Church of England withdraws investment on ethical grounds?

You may have seen the email I recently sent to over around 1,000 parliamentarians, including senior clergy and the former Scottish Energy Minister Baroness Liddell, who, as you will see, has a Shell connection. The email was about the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and the Church of England’s significant investment in Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

Many thanks for all the responses received.

I would like to bring to your attention just one of the many scandals rattling around in Shell’s corporate cupboard. read more

…if we continue operating Bravo in its current condition a major incident involving injury or fatality, and with the potential of Impairing the TR ;s inevitable. It may take a week or a year, it doesn’t matter. it will happen. You also need to consider your position. You are clearly working under instruction from Malcolm to keep a lid on this bag of worms, you should not be confident if the worst happens that the bold Malcolm will protect you. you will be hung out to dry to protect the golden boy’s progression up the ladder.

SHELL BLOG COMMENTS ON PUBLICATION OF BRENT BRAVO JAW-DROPPING AUDIT NOTES MADE IN 1999 BEFORE THE FATALITIES OCCURRED

FROM RETIRED OIM (addressed to Bill – Bill Campbell)

Bill, now the full horror of your findings during the Expro audit have been made available via Johns’ web site I wonder what kind of reaction, if any, will be generated. In retrospect and with hindsight, publishing earlier might have sealed Brinded’s demise sooner and he would never have risen to an apparent level of “the untouchable”.

The Italians hopefully will ensure he will be disgraced never to be any where near a responsible position again. read more

In his testimony, Ferri described the high points of the investigation, which included working with agents from the Metropolitan Police in London, U.S. authorities and Dutch police. His testimony touched on wiretaps, a raid on Shell headquarters in the Netherlands and tracing money transfers from Great Britain to Nigeria ..facing charges are Malcolm Brinded, former chief exploration director at Shell, and Peter Robinson, a former vice president for sub-Saharan Africa at Shell.

CAIN BURDEAU: Sept 28, 2018

CASTELBUONO, Sicily (CN) — A massive corruption trial in Milan involving Royal Dutch Shell, Italy-based Eni and a lucrative offshore Nigerian oil field is underway.

The court heard the first testimony in the case Wednesday and Friday. More hearings are scheduled until the end of October.

The trial centers on allegations of a sprawling $1.3 billion bribery deal that involved Royal Dutch Shell Plc. and Italy-based Eni S.p.A. executives. The oil giants allegedly worked out a corrupt deal with Nigerian officials, including then-President Goodluck Jonathan, to buy a much-coveted oilfield off the coast of Nigeria, known as OPL 245. read more

Brinded’s reaction to the devastating findings and recommendations of the Campbell led review was to shoot the messenger, namely, Bill Campbell. Brinded chose to ignore the stunning findings by the audit team and the recommendations made by its leader Mr. Campbell in relation to the Asset Manager. Instead, Brinded supported the mentally unhinged “foaming at the mouth” Asset Manager who was able to return to his tyrannical TFA regime shortly thereafter, despite his instability. Compared with him, Captain Bligh was a sweetie. The inevitable fatal outcome accurately foretold in the review, resulted from the ruthless, unprincipled criminal decision by Brinded to put production before safety. Astonishing stuff bearing in mind that the Asset Manager repeatedly blamed “his master” Brinded, who he colourfully described as a “bastard”

SHELL HAD ADVANCE SIGHT OF THIS ARTICLE AND ATTACHMENT, AND THEREFORE THE OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION TO PREVENT PUBLICATION. THE SAME APPLIES TO BARONESS HELEN LIDDELL 

LINK: THE PLATFORM SAFETY MANAGEMENT “STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL” REVIEW NOTES IN WHICH ALL OF THE INFORMATION BELOW, AND MUCH MORE, CAN BE SEEN IN JAW-DROPPING CONTEXT

By John Donovan

In November last year the brother of Keith Moncrieff, one of two workers who in 2003 tragically died in an accident on the Shell Brent Bravo North Sea oil platform, sent a heart-rending letter to Royal Dutch Shell Plc Chairman Charles Holliday.

He pleaded for help in bringing “these evil men to justice” – a reference to the Shell executives and officials he now knows were responsible for what the Scottish courts determined were “avoidable deaths“.  As far as I am aware, no reply was forthcoming. Not even the courtesy of an acknowledgment. (UPDATED 3 Oct 2018 PM: IN FACT MR HOLLIDAY DID REPLY AND DID OFFER HIS CONDOLENCES – SEE THE BOLD BLUE TEXT FURTHER DOWN) read more

LONDON, Sept 23 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell pioneered Nigeria’s oil and gas industry and remains a major investor in the West African country. But over the decades it has come under fire over spills in the Delta region and struggles with oil theft, corruption and oil-fueled violence.

Following are some of the highlights of Shell’s history in Nigeria:

1936 – The Royal Dutch Shell Group establishes a Nigerian venture with the precursor company of BP Plc. The first shipment of oil from Nigeria takes place in 1958. read more

Malcolm Brinded, President of the Energy Institute, the most corrupt person in modern history to ever occupy a boardroom seat in the Shell organisation

By Bill Campbell, Retired HSE Group Auditor, Shell International

Up until yesterday we, and the World, speculated that the purchase of the Nigerian oil field was done corruptly, now ipso facto,  it has been established corrupt by legal process.  

No more speculation is needed.

So however hard Shell polish this turd they were involved, very involved, in a deal that is now fully established as corrupt and it is more than probable, it may take some time, that Brinded and Robinson, if the latter doesn’t get easement for cooperation with the court, will face custodial sentences measured in years. read more

…this judgment will send shivers down the corporate spines of the oil industry – and will surely alarm Shell and Eni employees and shareholders who have been repeatedly told that there was nothing amiss with the OPL 245 deal.”

September 20, 2018: Samuel Ogundipe

A Nigerian man and his accomplice in Italy were on Thursday sentenced to four years each for their roles in the controversial Malabu oil deal, marking the first victory for Italian prosecutors in the complex corruption case.

The deal, struck in 2011 under President Goodluck Jonathan, saw the Nigerian government stand as a negotiator in the controversial sale of OPL 245 oil block in offshore Nigerian waters.

Two international oil and gas giants, Royal Dutch Shell and Italian Agip-Eni, paid out about $1.1 billion to Dan Etete, a former Nigerian petroleum minister who had previously been convicted of money laundering in France. read more

September 20, 2018, 08:07:00 AM EDT By Reuters

MILAN, Sept 20 (Reuters) – A Milan court sentenced two defendants in a Nigeria corruption case to jail on Thursday in what is a first ruling on one of the oil industry’s biggest graft scandals.

Nigeria’s Emeka Obi and Italian Gianluca Di Nardo were both found guilty of international corruption and each given four-year jail sentences, two sources with knowledge of the ruling said.

Lawyers for Obi and Nardo were not available for immediate comment. read more

Time running out for prosecutors to obtain potentially crucial documents seized in Geneva apartment raid

Ben Chapman: @b_c_chapman

Giant oil companies, offshore accounts, ex-MI6 agents, champagne lunches, a former Nigerian president and allegations of one of the biggest bribes ever paid – the corruption case against Shell and Italy’s Eni filed by prosecutors in Milan over a shady $1.3bn deal for a vast African oil field has could have been lifted from the pages of an espionage thriller.

The latest developments thicken the plot further with a cache of documents seized in a raid on a Swiss financier’s apartment that could be crucial to the case, leaving prosecutors in a race against time to get them to Milan as trial hearings get underway this week.

The Geneva raid uncovered a briefcase belonging to Emeka Obi, a middleman who received millions of dollars from the deal and is in the dock along with several senior Shell and Eni executives.

Inside the briefcase, Swiss prosecutors found a laptop, two Nigerian passports, five sim cards and a hard drive containing 41,000 documents that prosecutors believe could be crucial to the trial playing out on the other side of the Alps. read more