Halliburton Bribe: Paris Court Sentences TECHNIP!

 A Paris court, Friday, sentenced two former executives of French engineering and construction giant, Technip S.A, for their role in the Halliburton  scam.  

Meanwhile, No bribe recipient has been jailed in Nigeria; and no  Nigerian official implicated in the $180 million (N27 billion) Halliburton bribery scam has been convicted.

TSKJ, a consortium of four international companies (Technip; Snamprogetti; KBR, a subsidiary of Halliburton; and JGC), paid the bribe to Nigerian officials over a ten-year period to secure the construction contract worth $6 billion (N900 billion).

TSKJ partners admitted paying $132 million (N9.8 billion) to a Gibraltar corporation controlled by London-based lawyer, Jeffrey Tesler, and $51 million (N7.65 billion) to Marubeni of Japan. The money was meant as bribes to Nigerian government officials.

Jean-Marie Deseilligny, Technip’s General Manager; and Etienne Gory, the company’s Commercial Manager for Africa were ordered to pay fines of €10, 000 (N2.15 million) and €5,000 (N1.1 million) respectively. Prosecutors had asked the court to fine the accused €100, 000 (N21.5 million) each.

Jeffery Tesler, the main go-between for the consortium, is serving a 21-month sentence in the United States prison while Jack Stanley, KBR’s former Chief Executive Officer, is serving 30 months.

Using the Federal Corrupt Practices Act, FCPA, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the Security and Exchange Commission has made the companies and individuals that paid the bribe to pay more than $1.7 billion in penalties and disgorgement.

Halliburton, in January 2009, paid a $559 million (N84 billion) fine to the U.S government after the company was found guilty of bribing Nigerian officials.

While the bribe givers have all been convicted and fined, and in some cases jailed in their countries of origin and in the U.S., no Nigerian bribe recipient has been convicted or jailed.

The beneficiaries of the bribe, as revealed by several investigations, include three successive heads of state, former petroleum ministers, officials of the Nigerian oil company, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, and other government officials.

Culled from Premium Times

Word for the day: Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.- Mahatma Gandhi

Nigeria's 'YAHOO BOYS' Arrested!

Twenty suspected internet fraudsters, otherwise called yahoo-yahoo boys were recently arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

The arrest which was carried out in a joint operation with officers of the 4 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Benin, followed intelligence report on their activities.

They were nabbed in a surprise raid on their Caber office tucked in an old building located on Silk Road , Benin City- Nigeria .

At the point of arrest, the fraudsters had in their possession forty five (45) laptops of different make, twenty eight (28) telephone sets, eight (8) internet mobile modems and one Nissan car with registration number USL 375 AG.

Internet Fraudsters populary known as 'Yahoo Yahoo boys' at work

The suspected fraudsters who are mostly in their twenties includes: Idehen Obabueki, Adesa Lucky, Usuagu Uche, Eloghosa Olikiabor, Larry Edomwonyi, Amowie Maike, Francis Ezegbede, Itua Samuel and Endurance John Egbeifo. Others are Amego Ovenseri, Iyen Ighodaro, Philip Agbodori, Lucky Robinson, Nnadi Obinna, Osabuohien Osahon, Chinenu Eze, Peter Sunday, Solomon Ogu, Niyi Femi and Osagie Aghedo.

The suspects have made useful statements.

Most of them confessed to be engaged in online dating of foreigners particularly widows.

They also confessed to using different pseudo names and faces to deceive their prospective victims.

EFCC said they will be charged to court as soon as investigation is concluded.

Word for the Day; I know for sure that what we dwell on is who we become - Oprah Winfrey

Rev King must die by Hanging! Appeal Court affirms

Nigeria:


A Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos on Friday affirmed the death sentence passed on the General Overseer of the Christian Praying Assembly, Chukwuemeka Ezeugo (a.k.a. Rev. King), by Justice Joseph Olubunmi Oyewole of a Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja on January 11, 2007.

 

The lead judgement read by Justice Fatima Akinbami and supported by two other judges, Ibrahim Salauwa and Amina Augie, resolved all the grounds of the appeal against Rev. King.

The appellate court, in a unanimous judgment read by Justice Fatima Akinbami, dismissed Ezeugo’s appeal on the ground that the prosecution had “surely and effectively” proved its case against Rev King at the trial court.

Rev King, through his counsel, Olalekan Ojo, had appealed the judgment of Justice Oyewole, who convicted and sentenced him to death by hanging for the alleged murder of a church member, Ann Uzoh, and attempted murder of five other members of the church.

The appeal panel dismissed the appellant’s contention that there were “contradictions and inconsistencies” in the prosecution’s evidence.

“This appeal fails and is hereby resolved against the appellant. This appeal is devoid of merit and it is hereby dismissed.

“The conviction and sentence passed on the appellant on January 7, 2011 by Justice Joseph Oyewole of the Lagos High Court, Ikeja Division is hereby affirmed.”

Ezeugo was arraigned on September 26, 2006 on six counts of attempted murder and murder on allegations of pouring petrol on the deceased and on five other persons and thereafter setting them ablaze.

One of the victims, Uzoh, died on August 2, 2006, 11 days after the incident, as a result of the injuries she sustained.

Ojo had, among his 32 grounds of appeal, argued that the judgement of the trial court occasioned miscarriage of justice for relying on unresolved contradictions and inconsistencies in the prosecution’s evidence.

He argued that there were contradictions in the testimonies of some of the prosecution witnesses, with some saying that the cleric ordered for matches to set the victims ablaze and others saying he only ordered for matches after a lighter failed.

But Justice Akinbami, while delivering the ruling, held that the contradictions were immaterial to the case of the prosecution.

“Not all contradictions in the case of the prosecution will raise a doubt. For contradictions to be fatal to the prosecution’s case, it must be related to the material fact. All the witnesses are unanimous that the appellant used matches,” she said.

On Ojo’s contention that the evidence adduced by the prosecution did not show that the action of his client was linked to the death of the deceased, Justice Akinbami said the evidence given by eyewitnesses, and that of a pathologist ascribing the cause of death to “hypovolemic” (severe loss of blood and tissues), showed that Ezeugo’s action was the cause of death of one of the victims.

However, all the grounds of the appeal were resolved against Rev. King because the judge said the witnesses gave evidences of how the victim was killed, especially the evidences from the 10 prosecution witnesses.

Some of the witnesses said that Rev. King ordered one of them to bring matches and ordered another to pour petrol on the victim before he set her on fire.

Another witness stated that Rev. King looked for the matches himself before setting fire on the victim.

“The evidence is overwhelming and damning. He was offering them stone when they demanded for bread; he was giving them scorpion  when they demanded for fish,” she ruled.

Word for the Day: 

You must be the change you want to see in the world- Mahatma Gandhi

French president visits Mali to support French troops

French President Francois Hollande arrived in Mali on Saturday on a one-day visit to support French troops fighting a campaign against Islamist rebels in the Sahel nation.

Hollande, accompanied by his ministers for defence, foreign affairs and development, flew into Sevare in central Mali, French TV channels said.

He was due to go on to Timbuktu, the famed Saharan trading town which was recaptured from the rebels on Sunday.



The French leader was expected to outline the next phase of the mission for the French forces, which in a three-week intervention launched at Mali's request have pushed the Islamist fighters into the desert and mountains of the remote northeast.

Hollande has said that the French operation, which has 3,500 soldiers on the ground in Mali backed by warplanes, helicopters and armoured vehicles, wants to hand over to a larger U.N.-backed African force which is still being deployed.

Sustained French airstrikes have forced fighters from the Islamist militant alliance that was occupying northern Mali to retreat into the remote Adrar des Ifoghas mountains near the Algerian border. The rebels are also believed to be holding there seven French hostages previously seized in the Sahel.

In their three-week offensive, the French forces recaptured last weekend, with little resistance from the rebels, the two main towns in northern Mali, Gao and the fabled ancient city of Timbuktu.

culled from Reuters


Word for the Day: "The key to success is to focus our conscious mind on things we desire not things we fear." -Brian Tracy

China fireworks truck blast causes highway collapse!

State media reports that a truck carrying fireworks has exploded on an elevated highway in central China, killing scores of people and causing part of the road to collapse, 

The explosion occurred on national expressway G30 near the city of Sanmenxia in central Henan province at about 8.52am, according to the state-run China Daily, causing an 80-metre (260ft) section of the bridge to collapse and sending vehicles plummeting 30 metres to the ground.

 Search and rescue efforts are ongoing.

Lighting fireworks is a traditional part of Chinese new year celebrations, 

which begin this year on 10 February.

Word for the day: Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements." -Napoleon Hill

Russian rocket falls into sea in failed launch!

The rocket booster Zenit-3SL on the launch platform Odyssey in the Pacific

 Russian news agencies reported that a rocket carrying a communications satellite suffered engine trouble and plunged into the Pacific Ocean shortly after launch on Friday.

The unsuccessful launch of the Intelsat-27 satellite was one of several setbacks for Russia's space programme in recent years, including failed satellite launches and an unsuccessful mission to study the Mars moon Phobos.

The engine of the Zenit-3SL rocket, similar to the one pictured above, malfunctioned 50 seconds into flight 

The Zenit-3SL rocket carrying the satellite suffered engine failure shortly after liftoff, state-run Itar-Tass reported, citing a Russian space industry source. The rocket is a joint production of Ukrainian and Russian companies, it said.

Intelsat-27 was to provide services for media, government and other customers in the Americas and Europe, according to the website of Luxembourg-based Intelsat.

Russia is increasing space spending and plans to send a probe to the moon in 2015, but its celebrations in 2011 of the 50th anniversary of the Soviet achievement of putting the first man in space were marred by several botched satellite launches.

Culled from: Reuters




Word For the Day: "A real decision is measured by the fact that you've taken a new action. If there's no action, you haven't truly decided."- Tony Robbins

Bollywood actor charged with homicide!

Indian movie star Salman Khan will be tried for homicide for his alleged involvement in a fatal road accident more than 10 years ago.

 If convicted he faces up to 10 years in jail, says an Attorney.

   

Deepesh Mehta, Khan’s lawyer, says a magistrate on Thursday accepted an appeal by state government prosecutors that he should be charged with homicide instead of causing death by negligence, which carries a maximum of two years in jail.

One man was killed and another three were injured when Khan allegedly rammed his car into a group of homeless people sleeping on a Bombay sidewalk in September 2002.

Khan’s trial begins March 11. Indian courts are notorious for delays and a trial can take years to complete.

Word for the Day: "The number of times I succeed is in direct proportion to the number of times I can fail and keep on trying."- Tom Hopkins