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Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba To $182m Halliburton Bribery - Politics (2) - Nairaland

Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Politics / Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba To $182m Halliburton Bribery (31860 Views)

EFCC Grills Micheal Aondoakaa Over $182m Halliburton Fraud - SR / $182m Halliburton Scandal: Buhari Orders Preparation Of Case-file / Buhari Reopens $182m Bribery Case-tribune (2) (3) (4)

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Re: Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba To $182m Halliburton Bribery by Nobody: 1:18pm On Jun 06, 2015
Kk
Re: Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba To $182m Halliburton Bribery by CyberWolf: 1:18pm On Jun 06, 2015
This is really gonna be interesting..this probe will link to so many people like Obj, Atiku,Ibb,Danjumas, and so many other criminals that will shock the hell out of Nigerians.. shocked Can't wait to see Aremu(obj) behind bars again grin cheesy This time, ex-convict tag will hang on his neck for life grin

1 Like

Re: Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba To $182m Halliburton Bribery by Google63(m): 1:19pm On Jun 06, 2015
With the names involved, If this scandal can be probed to the letter, then I believe in Buhari's integrity crusade

2 Likes

Re: Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba To $182m Halliburton Bribery by Nobody: 1:19pm On Jun 06, 2015
We are watchn.

1 Like

Re: Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba To $182m Halliburton Bribery by dayleke: 1:20pm On Jun 06, 2015
Chai
Diaris godoooo!!!!!
Re: Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba To $182m Halliburton Bribery by Burger01(m): 1:21pm On Jun 06, 2015
Now, this is reporting journalism. Due process must be followed and those indicted be trialed appropriately. No stone must be left unturned.sad

3 Likes

Re: Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba To $182m Halliburton Bribery by shezinton(m): 1:22pm On Jun 06, 2015
Der is no point to build prison yard on d land,sea is available...I pray. make dis tin be real...a lot of pple are involve

2 Likes

Re: Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba To $182m Halliburton Bribery by cirmuell(m): 1:23pm On Jun 06, 2015
Can Buhari touch the untouchable people?

1 Like

Re: Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba To $182m Halliburton Bribery by myklangelo(m): 1:24pm On Jun 06, 2015
I stopped reading when everything got twisted into politics....by permutation PDP won in 2011 because of the bribe they collected from Haliburton scheme......chickenshit.

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The 1st Igbo language blog is out, it is fun and insightful. Visit, comment, share and criticize.www.odeniigbo..com
Re: Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba To $182m Halliburton Bribery by AnneMomoh: 1:24pm On Jun 06, 2015
tociano009:
A

Akara?
Re: Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba To $182m Halliburton Bribery by Nobody: 1:26pm On Jun 06, 2015
if abdulsalami is probed and prosecuted under buhari i will bathe outside naked...

1 Like 1 Share

Re: Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba To $182m Halliburton Bribery by giles14(m): 1:28pm On Jun 06, 2015
[quote


In 2010, Nigeria indicted former US Vice-President Dick Cheney, who was CEO of Halliburton before he was elected, only to later clear him when Halliburton worked out a $35 million settlement.


The Halliburton bribery scandal dates to 1994 when the Nigerian government launched ambitious plans to build the Bonny Island natural liquefied gas project.



Months later, in April 2003, the governing party scored an [/quote]and wer is dick Cheney ,he cleared himself wit 35million and we are here kill ourselves. LET D USA FIRST EXTRADITED D FORMER V.P SO DAT WE CAN OPEN D CASE .

1 Like

Re: Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba To $182m Halliburton Bribery by tociano009(m): 1:28pm On Jun 06, 2015
AnneMomoh:


Akara?
Annemomoh
Re: Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba To $182m Halliburton Bribery by Henrhyme4u(m): 1:31pm On Jun 06, 2015
The space

1 Like

Re: Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba To $182m Halliburton Bribery by AroOkigbo(m): 1:32pm On Jun 06, 2015
lilcashking:
“Not many people know that:
His (Buhari’s) daughter is
married to an Igbo man from Anambra
State.
He exempted Christians from performing
duties on Sundays.
When his Muslim soldiers asked him to
exempt them from duty on Friday,
he told them the Bible says Christians
should rest on the Seventh day; the
Muslims should show him where the
Quran says they should rest on Fridays.
As Head of State, he slashed the
number of Muslims going on
pilgrimage by 50 percent!
His driver and cook for the past 10 years
are Christians, yet some uniformed
Nigerians say he is a bigot.
It is a pity that some people fail to understand
that the PDP deliberately capitalized on the
gullibility of Nigerians to paint him black. This
they did, in order to keep their loot and
ensure that he never gets the opportunity to
send them to goal.
How many Nigerians will hold the appointment
of government as Minister of Petroleum, PTF
Chairman and Head of State yet don’t own a
house in Abuja?
He has only one house and never kept foreign
bank account. Love him, hat him, you
cannot take his integrity away from him”.

.
How many daughers has Buhari?
Which of them is married to an "Igbo man from Anambra state"?
.
Election is over and these propaganda got to stop please.

2 Likes

Re: Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba To $182m Halliburton Bribery by ayusco85(m): 1:33pm On Jun 06, 2015
barcanista:
Until perpetrators are brought to justice...I'm watching how things unfold

How many corrupt people did ur hero the otuoke fedora hat wearer brought to justice? Ur Head shld be hidden in shame?

2 Likes

Re: Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba To $182m Halliburton Bribery by AnneMomoh: 1:34pm On Jun 06, 2015
tociano009:
Annemomoh

present sir
Re: Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba To $182m Halliburton Bribery by Forwetinnah: 1:35pm On Jun 06, 2015
In Buhari's words " they did not steal One kobo"; the Hausas are the biggest thieves EVER and I'm NOT sorry to say it, followed by the Yorubas!! The minute a minority steals it becomes breaking news..this is just one case of the many bribery scandals those 2 were involved in. Bloody hypocrites, when you see them wearing one color of agbada for one year..you think they're straight forward and sincere people. Not one naira from that money went into the development of their LGA and some nuisances are here shouting GEJ.

2 Likes

Re: Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba To $182m Halliburton Bribery by Youngzedd(m): 1:39pm On Jun 06, 2015
olasmith10:
This should b d litmus test for PMB's administration..


Exactly.
Re: Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba To $182m Halliburton Bribery by Forwetinnah: 1:41pm On Jun 06, 2015
CyberWolf:
This is really gonna be interesting..this probe will link to so many people like Obj, Atiku,Ibb,Danjumas, and so many other criminals that will shock the hell out of Nigerians.. shocked Can't wait to see Aremu(obj) behind bars again grin cheesy This time, ex-convict tag will hang on his neck for life grin

Those are the people that wanted GEJ out at all cost so they can continue stealing Nigeria dry. What have these people done for the communities with all the stolen money??

1 Like

Re: Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba To $182m Halliburton Bribery by philips70(m): 1:41pm On Jun 06, 2015
IyaIode:
Can the EFCC on baba probe this? Time will tell

He has ordered a reopen of the probe. Let's watch.

http://news.nigeriannation.com/corruption-war-starts-as-buhari-orders-halliburton-182-million-bribery-case-re-opened/

1 Like

Re: Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba To $182m Halliburton Bribery by alashg(m): 1:46pm On Jun 06, 2015
[quote author=wisehuman156 post=34481718]New records obtained by the Paris-based Le Monde newspaper and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) have unveiled more details on the $182 million Halliburton bribery scandal in Nigeria that indicted several top government official, in the country who received the bribes, but for which no Nigerian was ever sent to jail.
Shockingly, the records have unearthed new Nigerian names never previously linked to the Halliburton scandal for which the US oil service giant was indicted by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and US Justice Department, and was compelled to pay fines running into hundreds of millions of dollars.

Those alleged to have received bribes from a British lawyer, Jeffrey Tesler, included former military head of state, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, his then chief of staff, Major-General Chris Garba (rtd), his wife, Rita, and Andrew Agom, a senior government offic

Starting with the narrative of Tesler, who served as the conduit between Halliburton's subsidiary KBR and Nigerian officials who were responsible for approving the $6 billion turnkey contract for the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) project in Bonny, Rivers State, the documents revealed how Tesler on one occasion dropped off a bag stuffed with $1 million in $100 dollar bills for an official at a foyer of a luxury hotel in Abuja.

“There is no day when I do not regret my weakness of character,” said the contrite British lawyer in a Houston courtroom. “I allowed myself to accept standards of behaviour in a business culture which can never be justified. I accepted the system of corruption that existed in Nigeria. I turned a blind eye to what was happening, and I am guilty of the offences charged.”

Tesler was speaking at the end of his 2012 sentencing hearing after pleading guilty to US corruption charges for his role in what became known as the “Halliburton bribery scandal”.

A network of secretive banks and offshore tax havens was used to funnel $182 million in bribes to Nigerian officials in exchange for $6 billion in engineering and construction work for an international consortium of companies that included a then Halliburton subsidiary.

In 2010, Nigeria indicted former US Vice-President Dick Cheney, who was CEO of Halliburton before he was elected, only to later clear him when Halliburton worked out a $35 million settlement.

Leaked records from HSBC, a huge global bank based in London, have revealed new details about the bank’s role as a conduit for the bribes — and new details about how Tesler operated.

The files, obtained by the French newspaper Le Monde and ICIJ, showed ties between Tesler and high-ranking Nigerians not previously named publicly in connection with the scandal, raising the possibility of renewed questions about Nigeria’s handling of the affair.

The Halliburton bribery scandal dates to 1994 when the Nigerian government launched ambitious plans to build the Bonny Island natural liquefied gas project.

Tesler was then, in his own words, “a simple lawyer” from North London. He grew from advising UK-based Nigerians on property deals to relishing his relationships with successive Nigerian military and civilian governments. Tesler began planning the bribe payments in 1994 and transferred small amounts of money through Switzerland in July 1996. But by 2003, his role had escalated.

In one brazen episode in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, Tesler directed the drop-off of a travel bag stuffed with $1 million in $100 bills in the foyer of a luxury hotel where the per-night cost of a suite can exceed the nation’s average annual income of $3,000. It was one of at least 20 money transfers that Tesler made or directed. The cash was destined for Nigeria’s ruling party via the state-owned oil and gas company, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), according to an official Nigerian report.

Months later, in April 2003, the governing party scored an overwhelming victory in an election marred by vote rigging, fraud and violence that led to the death of at least 100 people.
Switzerland’s famous bank secrecy laws encouraged Tesler to use the country as base for moving bribe money. And HSBC Private Bank (Suisse), with offices near luxury hotels in Geneva and Zurich, was his preferred bank. When US authorities seized 12 of Tesler’s Swiss accounts in 2013, five were with HSBC —more than any other bank.

The files obtained by Le Monde and ICIJ showed that nine people, including members of the Tesler family and Nigerian nationals, held a variety of roles with accounts at HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) between 1990 and 2003 — months before the completion of the gas plant. Nine of the 12 accounts instructed HSBC to keep all correspondence under lock and key in a bank safe.

Despite Tesler being under investigation since 2003, HSBC continued to offer advice, services and cash withdrawals to Tesler and his family, whose accounts with the bank totalled tens of millions of dollars at one point in 2006/2007. HSBC advised the family even though its individual files for Tesler and those close to him include references to “criminal cases” and “the Tesler affair.”

Tesler’s wife, Judy, is named in the files as a beneficial owner and a controlling client of two accounts, one of which was opened in 1999 and at one point in 2006 or 2007 held $35.3 million. The files do not specify her role in relation to a third account.

As he did with his wife, Tesler also transferred bribe money into accounts in the names of his daughters, according to US and French prosecutors. One daughter, Laura, then a twenty something psychology student, according to the leaked files, became a millionaire — at least on paper — through her beneficial ownership of an account under the name of a Panamanian company that held almost $4 million.
Judy Tesler and her daughters were not charged. On January 14, 2005 — 15 months after Tesler was first identified during a French corruption investigation — Judy Tesler’s agent instructed HSBC to buy and sell investments worth $380,000.
This account was frozen due to ongoing criminal investigations, but HSBC staff waived the sale through. Months later, bank staff met with one of the beneficial owners in London, possibly Judy Tesler, to “review portfolios”.
In April 2005, HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) recorded a visit from “J.T.,” likely to have been Jeffrey Tesler, who collected mail and withdrew more than $10,000 in cash from yet another account.

“If a bank has reason to believe that funds are in any way related to criminal activity, then any transfers in and out of the account should be reported,” Jimmy Gurulé, a professor at Notre Dame University and a former assistant US attorney, said in an interview with ICIJ.

“Banks should not permit their clients to benefit from dirty money,” Gurulé said, adding that the fact the account was later seized by authorities “raises some red flags over why the bank concluded the account wasn’t linked to criminal activity and authorised the sale.”

In response to ICIJ’s questions, an HSBC spokesman said the bank does not comment on specific clients.

The leaked files reveal that Tesler had financial ties to two former Nigerian officials: now-retired Major General Chris Garuba, chief of staff to former Nigerian president Abdulsalami Abubakar, who himself allegedly received bribes as president; and Andrew Agom, a senior government official who was killed in an attack on a motorcade.

Bank staff also responded to a request from Agom’s widow to unfreeze her husband’s account, whose post was sent to Tesler’s North London law firm and which was marked as subject to criminal investigations into Tesler. The files do not indicate whether or not the account was ultimately unfrozen.
Garuba, a former governor of Northeastern Bauchi state, is now chairman of Obekpa Petroleum, a Nigerian oil company. Before his death, Agom was a board member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which controlled the government when this affair unfolded.

Agom was the beneficial owner of an HSBC account linked to a Gibraltar-based company, Hemisphere Services Limited, which held a maximum amount of $797,377 at one point in 2006 or 2007.

Africa Confidential magazine previously named a company, Hemisphere Services (Nigeria), as a “recipient of largesse” from Tesler after viewing documents disclosed to the magazine during a French corruption investigation.
Agom’s account was opened in 1991 on the same day that an account was opened in the name of former Nigerian Air Force Chief, Abdullahi Dominic Bello.

A Nigerian government investigator has previously described Swiss accounts held by Bello as a conduit for “slush funds”. The investigator did not specifically mention HSBC.
The HSBC files identify Garuba and his wife Rita as HSBC clients; their names are listed along with Tesler’s in an account named Bridlington Enterprises Limited, for which Tesler acted as an attorney. The files showed that the account was opened the year before Tesler sent his first bribe payment to Switzerland, although the files do not show that Tesler transferred money into the Bridlington account, which held as much as $367,547 in 2006 or 2007.

Chris and Rita Garuba did not respond to ICIJ’s requests for comment. Tesler was sentenced to 21 months in prison and he forfeited $149 million from his Swiss accounts to the US government for serving as the go-between for bribes paid to secure contracts for KBR, the former Halliburton subsidiary, and the other consortium members, the Japanese firm JGC Corporation, Paris-based Technip, as well as Italy’s ENI S.p.A. and its Dutch subsidiary Snamprogetti Netherlands B.V.

Between 2009 and 2011, the consortium members paid penalties totalling more than $1.5 billion for their roles in the bribery scheme. Two KBR officials who had worked with Tesler, Wojciech Chodan and Albert (Jack) Stanley, KBR’s former chairman and CEO, were sentenced to one year of probation and 30 months in prison, respectively.

Cheney had been chairman and chief executive of Halliburton, the parent company of KBR, for five years — from 1995 to 2000 — before becoming US vice-president in 2001.

Cheney’s lawyer has asserted repeatedly that his client was not involved. “The Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission investigated that joint venture extensively and found no suggestion of any impropriety by Dick Cheney in his role of CEO of Halliburton,” attorney Terrence O’Donnell wrote in a 2010 statement to the Associated Press.

Meanwhile, Tesler, now 66, has served his sentence and returned to England, where he told authorities he would “spend the last few years, which God may graciously grant me, to seek forgiveness.”

Jeffrey Tesler did not respond to ICIJ’s requests for comment.
In Nigeria, anti-corruption campaigners continue to call on authorities to identify and prosecute Nigerian citizens involved in the scandal. While never publicly released, a 2010 Nigerian government document reportedly included three Nigerian presidents, a vice-president, a minister, intelligence chiefs and corporate titans in a list of bribery beneficiaries. The report did not name Garuba or Agom.

“In terms of the personalities and the amount of money involved it is probably the biggest scandal in Nigeria’s history,” Dauda Garuba, Nigeria's coordinator at the Natural Resource Governance Institute, said in an interview with ICIJ.

Lets the hunt begin joo can't wait for them to appear in court
Re: Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba To $182m Halliburton Bribery by bugzbunny: 1:46pm On Jun 06, 2015
Apart frm legalising homosexuality.. This was one of the things America wanted
Jonathan to revisit... But we all knw him..
Hope baba can unravel this
We wait patiently

1 Like

Re: Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba To $182m Halliburton Bribery by Feraz(m): 1:48pm On Jun 06, 2015
CyberWolf:
This is really gonna be interesting..this probe will link to so many people like Obj, Atiku,Ibb,Danjumas, and so many other criminals that will shock the hell out of Nigerians.. shocked Can't wait to see Aremu(obj) behind bars again grin cheesy This time, ex-convict tag will hang on his neck for life grin
grin grin grin
Re: Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba To $182m Halliburton Bribery by ERockson: 1:49pm On Jun 06, 2015
This is the shame Abdulsalam that was indicted during subsidy fraud. The 'shame' Abdulsalam Maduekwe ran to last month. This shameless Corrupt old man is an embodiment of Cabal and the real enemy of Nigeria

1 Like

Re: Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba To $182m Halliburton Bribery by Nobody: 1:49pm On Jun 06, 2015
barcanista:
Until perpetrators are brought to justice...I'm watching how things unfold
Lol. Nairaland champion. Zero electoral value. U think say to open threaf get like na governance?
Re: Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba To $182m Halliburton Bribery by Akinz0126(m): 1:50pm On Jun 06, 2015
The question is Why is this revelation just coming out now?that's because Abdusalem played his game very well. That's why we've not been hearing about his bribery and corruption Unlike other personalities who turned presidential seat to their birth right.
Re: Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba To $182m Halliburton Bribery by condralbede(m): 1:52pm On Jun 06, 2015
I will trek to ......if baba probe this ppl mentioned here!!!

1 Like

Re: Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba To $182m Halliburton Bribery by benedictac(f): 1:53pm On Jun 06, 2015
Rumpelstiltskin:
We will be needing more Prisons definitely. I can donate my 10 acres of land that has been laying fallow for some time now to Buhari to build more maximum prison facility.

No need for that moreover it will take a longer time. let them just free the innocent ones and those with lesser crimes. I bet u there will be enough space for them.

1 Like

Re: Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba To $182m Halliburton Bribery by repogirl(f): 1:55pm On Jun 06, 2015
Umm....I didn't see Obasanjos name inside there oooo..... Was it 'conviniently' omitted?

1 Like

Re: Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba To $182m Halliburton Bribery by Nobody: 1:59pm On Jun 06, 2015
If only APC will be committed with their prosecution the way they were kin on extraditing Kashumu

1 Like

Re: Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba To $182m Halliburton Bribery by benedictac(f): 2:00pm On Jun 06, 2015
lilcashking:
“Not many people know that:
How many Nigerians will hold the appointment of government as Minister of Petroleum, PTF Chairman and Head of State yet don’t own a house in Abuja? He has only one house and never kept foreign bank account. Love him, hat him, you cannot take his integrity away from him”.
Keep deceiving yourself.

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