Ex-Mobil Exec Pleads Guilty in Kazakh Case
A former Mobil Oil Corp. executive pleaded guilty to tax evasion for not reporting $7 million in secret payments, including a $2-million kickback he allegedly got for helping Mobil buy part of an oil field in Kazakhstan.
The plea in federal court in Manhattan by J. Bryan Williams of McLean, Va., is the first to come from a probe of an alleged scheme to bribe Kazakh leaders for oil rights.
An independent oil consultant has been indicted on charges of paying $78 million in bribes to Kazakh officials. Mobil, a unit of Exxon Mobil Corp., also is under investigation.
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