Posted on 01/27/2009 8:41:19 AM PST by BGHater
Halliburton Co. said it has agreed to pay $559 million to the U.S. to settle charges that one of its former units bribed Nigerian officials during the construction of a gas plant.
The deal needs to be finalized by the U.S. Justice Department. Halliburton declined to say whether the company admitted to or denied the charges as part of the proposed settlement, saying that it would wait to provide specifics until the deal was finalized with the Justice Department.
A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment on the case.
The proposed settlement appears to mark a turning point in the lengthy investigation that began in 2003. Authorities in Europe and Nigeria are still pursuing the matter.
The payment would be the largest paid by a U.S. company in a bribery investigation, far eclipsing the previous record $44 million fine in 2007 against U.S. oil-field services firm Baker Hughes Inc. for improper payments in Kazakhstan. Baker Hughes didn't admit or deny charges. In December, German industrial conglomerate Siemens AG agreed to pay $800 million in U.S. fines to settle bribery investigations involving alleged payments to government officials around the world to win infrastructure contracts. As part of the settlement, Siemens didn't admit to bribery allegations but it admitted to having had inadequate controls and keeping improper accounts.
Halliburton's disclosure of the potential settlement came as the oil-field services company reported a 32% drop in fourth-quarter earnings, in part because of charges related to the settlement. Halliburton shares rose 3.4% to $18.87 Monday on the New York Stock Exchange.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Well, they are still trading higher than GE and Citibank combined, what does that tell us?
lol. state wants their cut. hypocritical crap
That’s how you do business in some of these countries.
$559 million sounds like a bribe to the US government.
“That’s how you do business in some of these countries.”
And State is proving that’s how you do business in America too!
This is just another form of shakedown.
Other countries?
That's how our government does business with the American people, except there is no bribe involved. Just extortion.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.