₦airaland Forum

According to the indictment, Tillery was a WII employee and executive from the 1980s through January 2005. From 2002 until January 2005, Tillery served as executive vice president and, later, as president of WII. Novak was an employee of WII in the mid-1990s, according to theindictment, who later worked as an oil and gas consultant in
Nigeria, purporting to provide consulting services to companies in that field.

The indictment alleges that from late 2003 through March 2005, Tillery, Novak, a Nigerian national working with Novak as a “consultant” to Willbros, Nigeria-based employees of a major German engineering and construction company, and other WII employees conspired to make millions of dollars in corrupt payments to assist in obtaining and retaining a major gas pipeline engineering, procurement and construction project known as the Eastern Gas Gathering System (EGGS). Willbros and its German consortium partner offered to perform the work related to the EGGS project for approximately $387 million. In exchange for being awarded the EGGS project, theindictment alleges that Tillery, Novak, and others corruptly paid, promised to pay and authorized payments to officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the state-owned oil company in Nigeria; the Nigerian National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), NNPC’s subsidiary that manages NNPC’s investments in its joint ventures; a senior official in the executive branch of the Nigerian federal government; officials of a Nigerian political party; and officials of the company that operated the EGGS joint venture. Theindictment alleges that most of the bribe payments were laundered through Novak and his Nigerian consulting company partner.

The indictment also alleges that Tillery, Novak, and other WII employees based in South America agreed to make approximately $300,000 in corrupt payments to officials of state-owned PetroEcuador and its subsidiary, PetroComercial, to assist in obtaining a project that involved the rehabilitation of approximately 16 kilometers of a gas pipeline running from Santo Domingo to El Beaterio, Ecuador. PetroComercial was WII’s client on the $3 million project.

If convicted of all charges, Tillery and Novak each face sentences of up to 35 years in prison and fines of $250,000, or twice the pecuniary gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greater, for conspiring to violate the FCPA and for each violation of the FCPA; and $500,000 or twice the value of the funds involved in the ransfer,
whichever is greater, for the money laundering conspiracy.

Willbros, a publicly-traded company that provides construction, engineering and other services in the oil and gas industry, conducts international operations through WII. On May 14, 2008, Willbros and WII entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice and agreed to pay a $22 millioncriminal penalty in connection with corrupt payments to Nigerian and Ecuadorian government officials in violation of the FCPA. As part of the agreement, Willbros and WII agreed to cooperate, and have been cooperating, with the Department in its ongoing investigation.

The indictment was unsealed today after Novak was arrested upon his arrival into George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. Novak returned to the United States from Constantia, South Africa, after his U.S. passport was revoked. Tillery remains at large.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Hank Bond Walther and Trial Attorney Laura N. Perkins of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. It was previously handled by former Fraud Section Trial Attorney Thomas E. Stevens. The case is being investigated by the FBI and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations. Additional assistance was provided by the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs, the Fort Worth, Texas, Regional Office of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

James K. Tillery, 49, the former President of Willbros International, Inc., a unit of Willbros Group Inc., the Panama-based provider of oil and natural-gas services, based in Houston, Texas, was charged in an indictment today with a conspiracy to pay more than $6 million in bribes to foreign officials in exchange for contracts.

James K. Tillery was indicted along with Paul G. Novak, 41, a consultant to the company, on four counts: violation of the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, money laundering, and with two counts of authorizing corrupt payments. The bribes were allegedly made to secure gas-pipeline construction and rehabilitation business from state-owned companies in Nigeria and Ecuador.

In May, the company agreed to pay a $22 million criminal penalty to settle related bribery charges. The bribes occurred between late 2003 and March 2005, according to the indictment.

Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission announcement:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2008
WWW.USDOJ.GOV

Even the blind can feel it! Uncle Fashola [/b]has really done well! He deserves the second term , so ingenious governor .

Despite the [b]temporary(PERMANENT) hardship that some his reforms have caused I believe Fashola deserves a second chance!  NO PAIN NO GAIN

^^^ I know say una go like that

e sa rora, make una no go fall for yahoo-yahoo boys.

and be careful of all those 'importers, exporters & general merchant' 'gbogbo ero' biz

so that the naming ceremony of your 1st kid will not be done in the prison yard.

sincerely guyz, lets forgive kaita for what he did, afterall, Zidane did worst than him.

For all those with Honda and Acura vehicles, the radio unlock code is written inside the glove compartment box.

When the radio requests the unlock code, just enter the number from the glove box. This should unlock it.

I think this heavy traffic on Monday mornings and Friday evening is a norm in most major towns and cities.

IMO the Akobo problem is due to the following;

1. Its a single lane road

2. The rail way track crosses the road and because the track does not seamlessly blend into the road, cars slow down to cross the track

3. There are several cement dealers at the area where the rail track crosses the road and a lot of the time there are trailers off loading bags and bags of cement early on Monday morning

4. There is always one clever cloggs parked on the road. Remember that it is a single lane road, so cars coming behind have to wait behind the parked car until there is a gap in the traffic

5. The area is a relatively new area and lots of new middle to upper class people are now moving to the area, many of who own their own cars.

6. We all know the taxi Ibadan "old baba drivers" with their Datsun 120Y taxis always stopping and starting.

7. There is also an amala joint at the oju irin which is also very busy and with cars parked all around it Cheesy