A couple weeks ago, I linked to an article about the corruption in Africa’s water development. Well as it turns out, it’s not just a problem with Africa. Apparently rich-ass CEO’s don’t mind getting a few extra contracts through the hands of a corrupt African government. According to ENR.com, “Jack” Stanley has pleaded guilty of bribery for Natural Gas pipeline contracts.
In his plea agreement, Stanley says he authorized TSKJ, a joint venture in which KBR held a 25% stake, to hire two consulting firms to pay bribes to Nigerian officials to help win four Nigeria LNG contracts from Nigeria LNG Ltd. The Dept. of Justice says TSKJ paid $182 million to the firms. Stanley admitted part of the fees were to bribe Nigerian officials. He also admitted receiving about $10.8 million in kickbacks from a consultant, Justice said.
It’s quite unfortunate that this sort of thing always seems to come out after-the-fact. It makes me wonder how much bribery and corruption really occurs under the radar.
