Texan oilman pleads guilty in oil-for-food case (David Chalmers)

Reuters on Yahoo ^ | 8/17/07 | Paritosh Bansal

[NormsRevenge]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Texas oilman David Chalmers and two companies he owns pleaded guilty on Friday to paying millions of dollars in secret kickbacks to Iraq in connection with the United Nations oil-for-food program.

Chalmers, 53, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, just weeks before he was due to go on trial with Texas oil tycoon Oscar Wyatt.

Earlier on Friday, Ludmil Dionissiev, a Bulgarian oil trader based in Houston, pleaded guilty to smuggling. Prosecutors said Dionissiev, 61, worked with Chalmers to buy Iraqi oil for Chalmers' companies -- Bayoil USA Inc and Bayoil Supply and Trading Ltd.

The $67 billion oil-for-food program began in 1996 and ended in 2003 to ease the impact of sanctions imposed on Saddam Hussein's government after it invaded Kuwait in 1990.

The charges against Chalmers and his co-defendants stemmed from Iraq's requirement from 2000 to 2003 that recipients of oil should pay a secret surcharge, in violation of U.N. sanctions and U.S. law, to front companies and bank accounts controlled by the Iraqi government.

The secret payments were not made to the United Nations' monitored bank account from which humanitarian goods could be purchased for the Iraqi people, but in a secret deal with Baghdad outside of the program.

Chalmers, who was the sole shareholder of Bayoil, decided to pay illegal kickbacks, prosecutors said, while Dionissiev helped facilitate the export of Iraqi oil.

Both men face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, but under a plea deal Chalmers is likely to receive between three and four years when he is sentenced on November 19. Dionissiev is likely to receive up to six month under his plea agreement, his lawyer said.

Chalmers and Bayoil USA Inc, based in Houston, and Bayoil Supply and Trading Ltd, based in the Bahamas, also agreed to pay a total restitution of more than $9 million dollars. A lawyer for Chalmers and the two companies declined comment.

When Bayoil was indicted in April 2005, prosecutors said the oil trader played a pivotal role in efforts to fix the price of oil under the oil-for-food program.

U.S. and U.N. investigations have found that lobbyists and U.N. and Iraqi officials enriched themselves through kickbacks and bribery.

Wyatt, former chairman and founder of Coastal Corp, is also accused of paying million of dollars in kickbacks and is due to go to trial on September 5.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

So long Oscar, you arrogant bastard.

[org.whodat]

Both men face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, but under a plea deal Chalmers is likely to receive between three and four years when he is sentenced on November 19. Dionissiev is likely to receive up to six month under his plea agreement, his lawyer said.

So much for equal treatment under the law! Equal in this case is determined by how many palms can you grease, well that applies to a lot of cases.

[Farmer Dean]

Somebody needs to calculate how many dollars equals one starved to death Iraqi.I want to know just how much blood is on these bastard’s hands.

[P-40]

What about the former head of the UN? And his son? When do they come up for trial?

[Farmer Dean]

Soon I hope.I’m not about to hold my breath waiting though.

[P-40]

If he even gets indicted I’ll start believing in Santa Claus...or that Jefferson there in Louisiana will ever see a day in jail.

[PAR35]

So much for equal treatment under the law!

Haven't you ever heard the prosecutor's motto? The first to squeal gets the deal. First guy got 6 months, next guy 3-4 years; Wyatt's looking at hard time.

[God luvs America]

wasn’t Ted Kennedy’s in this guys back pocket....

[Lurker]

wasn’t Ted Kennedy’s in this guys back pocket....

Yep.

[topher]

Okay, so this guy aided Saddam Hussein and Saddam's Al Queda camps in Iraq BEFORE our invasion.

I wonder if any of his fellow future inmates would be interested in this...

This would be a case of blood for oil

[Eagles6]

Oil for food was the main reason that left the US no choice but to go to war in Iraq. The blood of every American who has paid the ultimate price is on hands the un, kofi annan and a$$holes like this.

I fault all the media for not carrying this story. We are guilty here too, at FR, me included.

[no dems]

under a plea deal Chalmers is likely to receive between three and four years when he is sentenced on November 19.

Maybe we'll get lucky and he'll drop dead like Ken Lay did and save the taxpayers that money it will cause to feed and house his sorry a**.

[lowbridge]

CHALMERS, DAVID
HOUSTON,TX 77019
BAY OIL USA
6/22/2000
$1,000
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Cmte

http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.asp?key=9YZP8&txtName=Chalmers%20&txtState=TX&txtAll=Y&Order=N

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[george76]

Vectra Bank has slapped Texas oilman and Aspen homeowner David Chalmers Jr. with a lawsuit accusing the convict of owing approximately $5 million or more in unpaid promissory notes.

Chalmers pleaded guilty last summer to conspiring to funnel kickbacks to Saddam Hussein’s former regime in Iraq under the United Nations’ Oil-for-Food program. The lawsuit, which was filed this week in Pitkin County District Court, makes no mention of Chalmers’s criminal record.

According to the lawsuit, Houston-based Bayoil Inc.,

Last August, Chalmers pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which federal sentencing guidelines indicate is punishable by a sentence of 37 to 46 months in prison.

His sentencing in New York has been pushed back repeatedly and is now scheduled in March. Chalmers previously agreed to pay more than $9 million in restitution for his criminal conviction.

Another player in the oil-for-food scam, Houston oilman Oscar Wyatt, also pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy, and is now serving a one-year sentence in a minimum-security prison.

http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/bank-sues-oilforfood-0