Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: Enforcement Action Dataset

Initiation Date: 07/07/2010

Prosecuting Agency: U.S. Department of Justice

Type of Action: DOJ Criminal Proceeding

Docket or Case Number: 10-cr-00460

Court: S.D. Texas

Name of Prosecuting Attorneys:

William J. Stuckwisch, Assistant Chief, Fraud Section, Criminal Division
Patrick F. Stokes, Senior Trial Attorney, Fraud Section, Criminal Division
Denis J. McInerney, Chief, Fraud Section, Criminal Division

US Assisting Agencies:

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Department of Justice - Criminal Division's Office of International Affairs

Foreign Enforcement Action/Investigation: Unknown

Foreign Assistance:

French Law Enforcement Agency (FR)
Swiss Law Enforcement Agency (CH)
U.K. Law Enforcement Agency (GB)
Italian Law Enforcement Agency (IT)

Origin of the Proceeding: Unknown

Whistleblower: Unknown

Case Status: Resolved

Summary

Snamprogetti Netherlands B.V. ("Snamprogetti") was a Dutch corporation headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Snamprogetti S.p.A., an Italian engineering, procurement, and construction company headquartered in Milan, Italy.

Snamprogetti was part of a four-company joint venture called TSKJ, which was comprised of Technip of France, Snamprogetti Netherlands B.V. of the Netherlands, Kellogg Brown & Root of the United States, and JGC Corporation of Japan. Between 1995 and 2004, members of the joint venture devised and implemented a scheme to bribe Nigerian government officials to obtain contracts worth over $6 billion to build liquefied natural gas (LNG) production facilities. on Bonny Island in Nigeria The joint venture partners formed a "cultural committee" comprised of senior sales executives at each company to consider how to carry out the bribery scheme. To conceal the illicit payments, the joint venture entered into sham contracts with a shell company controlled by a U.K. solicitor (Jeffrey Tesler, who was given $132 million for the purpose of bribing high-level Nigerian officials) and a Japanese trading company (Marubeni, which was given $51 million for the purpose of bribing low-level Nigerian officials) as conduits for the bribes. Total payments to the two agents exceeded $180 million.

On July 7, 2010, the DOJ filed a two-count criminal Information against Snamprogetti in the Southern District of Texas, charging Snamprogetti with one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and one count of aiding and abetting violations of the FCPA.

At the same time, Snamprogetti, its current parent company Saipem S.p.A., and its former parent company ENI, S.p.A. entered into a two year deferred prosecution agreement with the DOJ. Under the terms of the DPA, Snamprogetti agreed to pay a $240 million fine.

Protected Content

Please Log In or Sign Up for a free account to access restricted features of the Clearinghouse website, including the Advanced Search form and the full case pages.

When you sign up, you will have the option to save your search queries performed on the Advanced Search form.

| Enforcement Action Dataset

Enforcement Action Dataset

Case Information

United States of America v. Snamprogetti Netherlands B.V.

Case Information

Protected Content