- Push For Jail Terms For Dan Etete, Descalzi, Scaroni Others
Italian prosecutors in the ongoing $1.1bn Nigeria’s Oil Processing License OPL 245 criminal corruption trial involving Shell; a Dutch-British Oil and Gas Company and Eni has called for the confiscation of $1.092bn from the oil companies.
The prosecutors also called for jail terms ranging from ten to five years for all principal actors in what has now been termed as ‘unprecedented corporate corruption trial’.
The ongoing trial at the imposing Aula Bunker Courthouse, adjoining San Vittore Prison in downtown Milan has seen prosecutors in their closing statements, laid out their account of how the $1.1bn OPL 245 deal played out.
The prosecutor started by outlining how Malabu Oil and Gas, a company controlled by the then Nigerian Oil Minister Dan Etete, received the OPL 245 license in 1998, paying only $2m of the $20m required signature bonus, bringing in Shell only to have the license revoked in 2001.
They recounted how Shell then signed a Production Sharing Contract with Nigeria and provided details of how Nigerian officials should have considered the country’s interest in the deal but they did not.
They further explained that the fiscal terms for Deepwater offshore licenses in Nigeria, the deal included a contract titled a “Production Sharing Contract” (PSC) but it is mislabeled as it is only between Shell and Eni, when it must include the state oil company {in this case the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation} in order for the deal to be a PSC.
The prosecutor pointed to a Shell email memorializing NNPC’s position in a February 2011 meeting ” that NNPC could accept to bend on some issues of PSC, this has to be one-off and not a precedent”.
The prosecutor points out a Shell email mentions that Eni managers also had concerns that the contract was mislabeled.
The prosecutor says that the prosecution expert witness also dealt with the issue of back-in rights, the right for NNPC to re-acquire a stake later. The final deal kept some of Nigeria’s rights but they would have to pay part of the $1.1bn Shell and Eni paid plus costs.
Due to the foregoing, the prosecutor is praying to the court to order the confiscation of $1.092bn From Shell, ENI.
They also asked that principal actors in the case should be sentenced to jail terms ranging from 10 years to 5 years.
The prosecutor requested a ten years jail sentence for Dan Etete and an eight-year jail term for the trio of Eni’s CEO Claudio Descalzi, his predecessor Paolo Scaroni and Luigi Bisignani.
They also requested 7 years and 4 month’s sentence for former Shell board member Malcolm Brinded and Robert Casula – Eni’s Head Of Technology And Development.
They also requested 4 years and 6 months jail term for Peter Robinson, Shell’s former VP for sub-Saharan Africa, Vincenzo Armanna, Ciro Antonio Pagano, Ednan Agaev, Gianfranco Falcioni, John Copleston and Guy Colegate.
The next hearing will come up on the 9th of September when Nigeria’s advocates will present their concluding arguments and are expected to request for damages.
