Technip S.A. was a company that carried out project management, engineering and construction for the energy industry. Its headquarters were in Paris, France.
Technip was part of a four-company joint venture called TSKJ, which was composed 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 June 28, 2010, the SEC filed a complaint against Technip in the Southern District of Texas, charging the company with violating the anti-bribery, books and records, and internal controls provisions of the FCPA. On July 9, 2010, Technip consented to the entry of final judgment permanently enjoning the company from future violations of the FCPA. Under the terms of the judgment, Technip is obligated to pay disgorgment of $98,000,000.
In a related action, Technip entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the DOJ in which it agreed to pay a $240,000,000 penalty and engage a corporate compliance monitor. On October 15, 2012, after Technip paid the $240 million penalty, fully cooperated with the United States and continued to meet its obligations under the DPA, the United States dismissed with prejudice the criminal information.
On March 21, 2014 the African Development Bank levied a $5.3 million fine against Technip. The African Development Bank also levied a $6.5 million penalty against Kellogg Brown & Root LLC, and a $5.2 million penalty against JGC.
