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Nigeria Investigating Halliburton on Bribes

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From Associated Press

The government of this West African nation ordered an investigation Friday into allegations that a Halliburton Co. subsidiary paid $180 million in bribes to land a contract for a natural gas project here.

It is the third country to probe the allegations. A French magistrate has been investigating for months, and reviews by the U.S. Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission were disclosed this week.

President Olusegun Obasanjo has ordered a high-level probe into the allegations, presidential spokeswoman Remi Oyo said in Abuja, the administrative capital.

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Oyo said the investigation was being led by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, a panel Obasanjo set up to fight rampant breaches of financial law.

The $4-billion Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Plant was built in the 1990s by a consortium that included Kellogg, Brown & Root, a unit of Houston-based Halliburton now called KBR.

Vice President Dick Cheney was Halliburton’s chairman for five of the seven years in which the secret payments were allegedly made.

Cathy Gist, a Halliburton spokeswoman, said that the Nigerian government had not notified the company of the inquiry and that Halliburton had no reason to assume that any of its employees or those employed by the joint venture had violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The act bars U.S. businesses and individuals from bribing foreign officials.

Gist said the company would cooperate with the U.S. officials’ inquiry.

Justice Department officials disclosed Wednesday that the department was reviewing documents provided by Halliburton to determine whether to launch a full investigation.

Halliburton, which has been criticized for allegedly overcharging in contracts related to the Iraq war, disclosed the Justice Department request in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Jan. 21.

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According to Halliburton’s filing, the illegal payment allegations involve a joint venture in which KBR had a 25% stake. The other partners were Technip of France; Snamprogetti, a subsidiary of ENI of Italy; and Japan Gasoline Corp.

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