Daily Independent Online.
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Tuesday, July 13, 2004.
Halliburton to overhaul Nigerian operations
By Chinedu Offor
Correspondent,
Washington D.C
Several key employees
of Halliburton may be fired as the troubled United States-based company is set
to overhaul its Nigerian operations.
Halliburton, best
known for its close ties to U.S.
Vice President Dick Cheney, has already
sacked top executive Jack
Stanley who was in charge of its operations in Nigeria for "improper personal
benefits", a euphemism for bribery.
Stanley officially
retired last year as Chairman of
Halliburton's KBR division. And it was learnt that he has also been given the boot as a consultant for the
multi-billion dollar Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project as
investigators from about a dozen countries continue to ferret the
company’s books.
Halliburton is said to
have drawn up a list of other officials to go the way of Stanley.
This comes after
French investigators allegedly found $5 million (N700
million) of suspected bribe money in an account in Switzerland bearing the name
of the former consultant who ran KBR when it was picked to build and expand the
Nigerian LNG project, ranked as one of the largest in the world.
And French and
American investigators are searching for answers as to whether another $180
million in bribes may have been distributed among top officials and their
Nigerian accomplices.
But Halliburton, the
subject of several investigations, insists on its innocence. "Halliburton
continues to cooperate with the United States Department of Justice and the
Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with these matters and on its
own internal investigation is continuing. This company has not violated the
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act", a press statement said.
Sources said
Halliburton has hired some influential legal firms to get it out of its troubles.
The company confirmed
that it has retained Baker Botts, a prestigious law firm allegedly with long links to the family
of President George Bush, to lead its internal investigation into the Nigerian
deal.
KBR originally landed
a piece of the LNG in 1995. It won a big expansion contract in 1999 and another
in 2002. According to the Financial Times of London, foreign investigators are
now scrutinising several questionable payments made by the KBR venture over the
same time frame.
The company said it
would do everything possible to get to the root of the bribery allegations
currently rocking it.
Its Chief Executive Officer Dave Lesar said: "While we
do not know all of the facts related to the issue, we are taking these actions
in response to the facts that we do have the right to protect our investors,
employees, customers and vendors as several investigations proceed”.
