Halliburton Subsidiary Is Target of U.S. Probe

The Justice Department is looking into allegations that a subsidiary of Halliburton Co. was involved in payment of $180 million in bribes to win a contract for a natural gas project in Nigeria, officials said Wednesday.

The $4-billion Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Plant was built in the 1990s by a consortium that included Kellogg, Brown & Root, when Vice President Dick Cheney headed Halliburton. A call to Cheney’s office seeking comment was not immediately returned Wednesday night.

Two senior Justice Department officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the department had requested that Halliburton voluntarily provide documents related to the allegations. Those documents, they said, could determine whether a full investigation would be launched.

Halliburton has complied with the request, the officials said. One factor in the department’s decision 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 Iraq war, disclosed the Justice Department request in a Jan. 21 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A French magistrate, Renaud Van Ruymbeke, is also investigating the Nigerian payments and has said in a memo that embezzlement charges could eventually be filed against Cheney in Paris. Cheney’s aides have refused to comment on the allegations.

According to Halliburton’s filing with the securities commission, the illegal-payment allegations involve a joint venture of which Kellogg, Brown & Root, now called KBR, was a 25% owner. The other partners were Technip of France; Snamprogetti, a subsidiary of ENI of Italy; and Japan Gasoline Corp.

The filing says the Justice Department and the SEC are reviewing the allegations under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The payments were allegedly made to Nigerian officials.

In addition to the Nigeria allegations, the Houston-based company’s contract to supply gasoline to Iraqi civilians is being investigated by the Defense Department.

Last month, KBR reimbursed the Pentagon $6.3 million after disclosing that two employees had taken kickbacks from a Kuwaiti subcontractor in return for helping it overbill for services in Iraq.

KBR also has agreed to reimburse the Pentagon more than $27 million for apparent overcharges on meals served at military facilities in Iraq and Kuwait.