http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/international/article5396614.ece
Washington, Nov 26:
The oilfield services company Weatherford International
has agreed to pay more than $250 million to settle federal charges that
it bribed officials in West Asia and Africa to win business.
The
Securities and Exchange Commission said today it charged the
Swiss-based company with violating US law by offering foreign officials
bribes, improper travel and entertainment to win contracts under the
United Nations’ Oil-for-Food programme. Regulators say Weatherford
falsified its records to hide these payments as well as other
transactions in Cuba, Iran, Syria and countries subject to US sanctions.
Weatherford
says it agreed to pay $253 million to settle the charges and other
claims against it by the US Department of Justice, the Department of
Commerce and other federal agencies.
The pact is subject to court approval.
“This
matter is now behind us. We move forward fully committed to a
sustainable culture of compliance,” said Weatherford CEO Bernard
Duroc-Danner, in a statement.
SEC officials said in a
release that Weatherford’s lack of internal controls led to an
environment where employees engaged in bribery and failed to maintain
accurate records.
Weatherford staffers used code
names like “Dubai across the water” to hide business dealings in Iran,
according to the SEC investigation. In other cases the company created
bogus accounting and inventory records to hide illegal transactions.
Among
other improper payments, the SEC said Weatherford paid for a trip to
the 2006 World Cup for two officials from a state—owned Algerian
company, a honeymoon for an official’s daughter and a religious trip to
Saudi Arabia for an official and his family.
Regulators
documented the misconduct from at least 2002 to 2011, according to the
SEC’s complaint filed in federal court in Houston.
“This
case demonstrates how loose controls and an anaemic compliance
environment can foster foreign bribery and fraud by a company’s
subsidiaries around the globe,” said Mythili Raman, acting assistant
attorney general of the Justice Department’s criminal division.
US shares of Weatherford International Ltd have risen more than 42 per cent so far this year.