- WASHINGTON (AP) -- A subsidiary
of Halliburton Co. is under scrutiny by the Justice Department over allegations
that it was involved in payment of $180 million in bribes to win a natural
gas project contract in Nigeria. Vice President Dick Cheney was head of
Halliburton at the time.
-
- The $4 billion Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas Plant was
built in the 1990s by a consortium that included Kellogg, Brown & Root,
a unit of Houston-based Halliburton.
-
- Two senior Justice Department officials, speaking Wednesday
on condition of anonymity, said the department had asked that Halliburton
voluntarily provide documents related to the allegations. Those records,
they said, could determine whether a full investigation is launched.
-
- Halliburton has complied with the request, the officials
said. One factor in the Justice Department's decisions on whether to press
corporate fraud charges is whether the company is cooperative.
-
- Halliburton, already under fire for its handling of contracts
related to the war in Iraq, disclosed the Justice Department request in
a Jan. 21 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
-
- A French magistrate, Renaud Van Ruymbeke, also is investigating
the Nigerian payments. He has said in a memo that embezzlement charges
could be filed against Cheney in Paris. Cheney's aides have refused comment
on the allegations.
-
- Cheney spokesman Kevin Kellems said Thursday that the
vice president's office had no information about the matter. "We have
not been contacted about it by anyone," Kellems said.
-
- According to Halliburton's SEC filing, the illegal payment
allegations involve a joint venture of which KBR was a 25 percent owner.
The other partners were Technip SA of France, ENI SpA of Italy and Japan
Gasoline Corp.
-
- The filing says the Justice Department and Securities
and Exchange Commission are reviewing the allegations under the Foreign
Corrupt Practices Act. The payments for the gas plant contract were allegedly
made to Nigerian officials.
-
- "Halliburton has engaged outside counsel to investigate
any allegations and is cooperating with the government's inquiries,"
the company said in the filing. "If illegal payments were made, this
matter could have a material adverse effect on our business and the results
of operations."
-
- Halliburton's troubles do not stop there. The Defense
Department is conducting a criminal probe into the Houston-based company's
contract to supply gasoline to Iraqi civilians.
-
- Last month, KBR reimbursed the Pentagon $6.3 million
after disclosing that two employees had taken kickbacks from a Kuwaiti
subcontractor in return for providing services to U.S. troops in Iraq.
-
- KBR also has agreed to reimburse the Pentagon more than
$27 million for overcharges on meals served at military dining facilities
in Iraq and Kuwait.
-
- Halliburton has complained repeatedly that criticism
of its work in Iraq is politically motivated, in part because of its past
ties with Cheney, the company's chairman from 1995 to 2000.
-
- Copyright © 2004, The Associated Press
-
- http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-halliburton-nige
ria,0,2682889.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines
|
