Oilman guilty in Iraq scheme
Texas oilman Oscar S. Wyatt Jr. pleaded guilty to charges that he paid millions of dollars to Iraqi officials to illegally win contracts connected to the United Nations oil-for-food program.
Wyatt told the federal judge in Manhattan that he agreed in December 2001 to advise others to pay a surcharge into an Iraqi account in Jordan in violation of a program rule calling for no direct payments to Iraq.
The plea deal calls for Wyatt to be sentenced to 18 to 24 months in prison, unless the judge decides otherwise. He also has agreed to forfeit $11 million.
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