OPL 245 case, Eni and Shell indicted for the bribe of the century

Eni and Shell and 13 managers, politicians and intermediaries were sent to trial on charges of international corruption for the acquisition of the Nigerian offshore oil block OPL 245, for which the two companies paid 1.1 billion dollars in 2011.

Those who will enter the dock will be, among others, the current CEO of Eni Claudio Descalzi, his predecessor Paolo Scaroni, the Chief Operation and Technology Officer of the Italian multinational Roberto Casula, four Royal Dutch Shell top managers including Malcolm Brinded, former executive director for Upstream International, and the intermediary Luigi Bisignani. No large corporation like Royal Dutch Shell or its executives have ever been prosecuted for corruption crimes. The former Nigerian Oil Minister, Dan Etete, was also sent to trial.

This historic decision follows Shell's surprising change of stance last April, when the corporation admitted that it knew that the payment of more than a billion dollars for the transaction was intended for Dan Etete, already convicted of money laundering.

The investigations by the Milan prosecutor's office were triggered by a complaint filed in the autumn of 2013 by Re:Common and the British organizations Global Witness and The Corner House. Similar complaints have been filed in Nigeria and the United States. Dutch magistrates are also investigating the case.

Antonio Tricarico of Re:Common commented on the news of the indictment as follows. “The then Prime Minister Matteo Renzi was wrong when in 2014 he vigorously defended the CEO of Eni, just appointed by the government, warning that 'he would not have allowed so many jobs to be put in danger by a half-scoop, nor that a notice of investigation published in newspapers could change the commercial policy of a country'. If what appears to have happened with the OPL 245 affair represented the standard line of conduct of the largest Italian multinational controlled by the government, the magistrates have every right to reveal the truth and bring those responsible to justice, while Renzi should apologize to Italian and Nigerian citizens".

"The Nigerian people have lost more than a billion dollars to this corrupt deal, the equivalent of the country's entire annual healthcare budget. Nigerians deserve to know the truth about what happened to these funds. We congratulate the prosecutors in Milan for their exhaustive investigative work, which has led to this trial. It will be the largest in the history of multinationals and a clear warning to those who see corruption as a shortcut to easy money", said Simon Taylor, co-founder of Global Witness.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Italian magistrates believe that "Claudio Descalzi, then head of the exploration department, and Paolo Scaroni, CEO of Eni, knew that the escrow account in the name of the Nigerian government was only in transit to then pass the money to an account controlled by Dan Etete, who was the real recipient of the maxi-bribe. The due diligence reports commissioned by Eni during the negotiation process confirm that the company knew from the early stages of the involvement of Etete. A 2010 report explicitly states that: "whatever the formal ownership structure of Malabu, all the sources we spoke to are of the opinion that Dan Etete is the real owner of the company". To date, Eni continues to deny having known of Etete's involvement. The Milanese prosecutors also claim that money was sent to Eni and Shell executives, since 50 million dollars were delivered to the then head of activities for Africa. sub-Saharan Africa, Roberto Casula.

“This isn't just a case of a few bad apples,” said Nicholas Hildyard of The Corner House. "The evidence shows systemic corruption starting at the top of companies. Italy has set an example in applying the rule of law against corporate abuses of power. The world is waiting to see whether the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, where Shell is based, will have the courage to do the same."

In December 2016, the Milan Prosecutor's Office stated that 520 million dollars relating to the payment of the OPL 245 deal were then forwarded to Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan and to representatives and senior officials of the Nigerian executive.

The Nigerian authorities have brought charges against the local subsidiaries of Shell and Eni as well as against some of their employees. Last January, Mohammed Adoke, the former Nigerian justice minister, was also accused of having laundered a sum of money of over 2.2 million dollars, a sum also linked to the offending transaction.

“This case represents the dawn of the age of accountability, in a world where even the most powerful corporations can no longer hide their wrongdoings and avoid the due course of justice,” commented Lanre Sujaru, president of the Nigerian organization Human Development Agenda.