Royal Dutch Shell, others pay $236 mil in bribe cases
WASHINGTON — Royal Dutch Shell PLC, a big Swiss freight company, four oil service companies and a U.S. shipping firm have agreed to pay a total $236.5 million to settle criminal and civil charges of bribing foreign officials, the government announced Thursday.
The companies were accused of paying millions of dollars in bribes to customs officials in 10 countries in exchange for favorable treatment in customs duties, imports and taxes. In addition, they allegedly also paid bribes to get phony documents enabling oil drilling rigs to be brought in to countries.
The companies agreed to pay $156.5 million in criminal fines to settle proceedings with the Justice Department, and about $80 million in civil fines and restitution to settle related charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Big oil company Royal Dutch Shell of Britain and the Netherlands, and an exploration subsidiary, agreed to relinquish about $18 million in profits and interest. In addition, Shell Nigerian Exploration and Production Co. Ltd. will pay a $30 million criminal fine.
In court documents filed in Houston, Panalpina World Transport (Holding) Ltd., of Basel, Switzerland, and its U.S. subsidiary agreed to criminal fines of almost $70.6 million. The company also will give up $11.3 million in profits to settle with the SEC. Panalpina acknowledged paying $27 million in bribes from 2002 to 2007 to officials of Angola, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Russia and Turkmenistan.
The oil service companies are Pride International Inc., Transocean Inc., GlobalSantaFe Corp. and Noble Corp. The shipping firm is New Orleans-based Tidewater Inc.
The other countries involved were said to be Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Venezuela.
The settlements marked the latest action in the government's efforts to combat overseas corruption in international business. The bribery charges were brought under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which makes it unlawful to bribe foreign government officials or company executives to secure or retain business. A number of U.S. and foreign companies have been charged with violating the law in recent years.
In the settlements announced Thursday, SEC officials said the agency's cases constituted its first "sweep" of a specific industry sector to crack down on public companies and third parties that are paying bribes abroad.
"Bribing customs officials is not only illegal but also bad for business, as the coordinated efforts of law enforcement increase the risk of detection every day," SEC Enforcement Director Robert Khuzami said in a statement. "These companies resorted to lucrative arrangements behind the scenes to obtain phony paperwork and special favors, and they landed themselves squarely in investigators' crosshairs."
Also in the new settlements:
—Pride International agreed to pay about $23.5 million in restitution; the company and its Pride Forasol subsidiary are paying a $32.6 million criminal fine.
—Tidewater: around $8 million in restitution and a $217,000 civil fine. Subsidiary Tidewater Marine International: a $7.3 million criminal fine.
—Transocean: about $7.3 million in restitution. Transocean Inc. and Transocean Ltd.: a $13.4 million criminal fine.
—GlobalSantaFe: about $3.7 million in restitution and a $2.1 million civil fine.
—Noble: about $5.6 million in restitution and a $2.6 million criminal fine.