“OSSL management seems to be so disgusted by Shell management that they appear set on a self-destruct mission. The two main possibilities appear to be that they are either responsible for manufacturing forged documents as part of an attempt to put pressure on Shell, or have been drawn by Shell into a corruption conspiracy/scheme operated in Ireland on an industrial scale.”

JOHN DONOVAN EMAIL TO PRIVATE SECRETARY OF IRISH JUSTICE MINISTER, MR ALAN SHATTER

From: John Donovan <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Alleged Corruption of Irish Police Force
Date: 6 April 2013 16:38:12 GMT+01:00
To: INFO <[email protected]>

Dear Mr Brennan

I do apologise for sending this further email but OSSL contacted me again this morning. As a result I have supplied three additional items of purported evidence that I have not seen before, that should be brought to the attention of Mr. Alan Shatter, the Minister for Justice and Equality. read more

By John Donovan

In September 2009, we published an article headlined: BAE Systems whistleblower accuses Shell & BP of money laundering Al-Yamamah proceeds

Al-Yamamah was the Saudi/UK corruption scandal investigated by the UK Serious Fraud Office until the investigation was stopped in its tracks by the then PM, Tony Blair, a man not known for being incorruptible or honest. Blair gave in to threats from the repressive Saudi regime. In my lifetime, this was a low point in the UK’s international reputation, along with the Suez fiasco.
read more

U.K. Judge Throws Curveball in BAE Agreement

By Dionne Searcey: DECEMBER 20, 2010

Bringing closure to foreign-corruption cases has generally become a formulaic process.

The company pays a bribe overseas, law enforcement finds out, the two sides reach some kind of a settlement deal, a judge approves it, and everyone goes their separate ways. Any deviation from this pattern tends to generate headlines.

But a judge in the U.K. on Monday threw a wrench into the Serious Fraud Office’s plans for winding down the long and tangled corruption investigation into British defense contractor BAE Systems. Click here for the FT story. read more

An previous investigation by Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) into reports BAE paid about 1 billion pounds over a decade to Prince Bandar bin Sultan in connection with the al-Yamamah arms deal had been halted in December 2006 by former Prime Minister Tony Blair after the probe angered Saudi Arabia.

By John Donovan

The following is a self-explanatory email I sent earlier today to Robert (Bob) Pease, President & Chief Executive Officer of Motiva Enterprises LLC, which is jointly owned by a subsidiary of Saudi Aramco and Shell.

From the Motiva Website:

Formed in 1998, Motiva Enterprises LLC operates primarily in the eastern and southern United States. Its operations include nearly 7,700 Shell-branded gasoline stations, three refineries with a combined capacity of 740,000 barrels per day, and ownership interest in 41 refined product storage terminals with an aggregate storage capacity of approximately 19.8 million barrels. read more

There is also an oil element. There was an oil barter arrangement whereby oil was marketed, initially by Shell and BP, and the proceeds were routed through the MOD to BAE Systems."

At one point, BAE director Andy Ingils was greeted with laughter and jeers when he said that he wanted to make weapons environmentally friendly.

Excerpts: Freeh said that a 1985 treaty between Britain and Saudi Arabia allowed the trade of oil for weapons. BAE signed an $86-billion contract with the Saudis under the provisions of the treaty, and the funds that flowed between Britain and the Bandar-controlled bank accounts in the U.S. may have come from the sale of Saudi oil under the terms of the contract. "We did not invent corruption," Prince Bandar bin Sultan tells Bergman. "This has happened since Adam and Eve. . . . This is human nature."

The UK has been identified for several years by the OECD as one of the worst laggards... This is highlighted by the fact that the suspension of the Al-Yamamah investigation in 2006 – looking at alleged bribes paid by BAE Systems as part of a UK-Saudi Arabia arms deal