LAGOS (AFP) – Nigeria will consider a deal to drop charges against US ex-vice president Dick Cheney and his former company Halliburton over a bribery scandal after "fruitful" weekend talks, officials said Monday.
Asked whether the charges were being dropped after the negotiations in London, prosecutor Godwin Obla said, "The possibility is there."
However, he would not provide details on the talks he said included high-ranking officials from energy firm Halliburton. Government officials must approve any settlement, said Obla.
"We had fruitful negotiations in London," he added.
A spokesman for Nigeria's anti-graft agency also refused to comment in detail on the talks, saying only that those involved in the case had offered to pay fines to avoid prosecution.
"There is the need for the team from London to brief the government," said Femi Babafemi.
Halliburton officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
Nigerian authorities charged Cheney and several others last week with 16 counts over a bribery scandal related to the construction of a liquefied natural gas plant. Cheney was head of Halliburton before becoming US vice president serving president George W. Bush following 2000 elections.
Others charged included Halliburton CEO David Lesar, as well as Halliburton Inc., its former subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR), former KBR head Albert "Jack" Stanley and that firm's current leader William Utt.
The case involves an alleged 182 million dollar cash-for-contract scandal over 10 years until 2005 over construction of the liquefied natural gas plant in southern Nigeria.
Halliburton has denied involvement in the allegations, and a spokesman for Cheney has dismissed the accusations against him as baseless.
The consortium involved in the gas plant, TSKJ, was also charged.
US authorities said last year that Halliburton and KBR had agreed to pay 177 million dollars to settle charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States over the scandal.
KBR agreed to pay a further 402 million dollars to settle criminal charges brought by the US Justice Department.
No comments:
Post a Comment