http://www.theage.com.au/interactive/2016/the-bribe-factory/day-1/the-company-that-bribed-the-world.html
PART 1
THE COMPANY THAT BRIBED THE WORLD
In the list of the world's great companies, Unaoil is nowhere to be
seen. But for the best part of the past two decades, the family
business from Monaco has systematically corrupted the global oil
industry, distributing many millions of dollars worth of bribes on
behalf of corporate behemoths including Samsung, Rolls-Royce,
Halliburton and Australia's own Leighton Holdings.
Now a vast cache of leaked emails and documents has confirmed what
many suspected about the oil industry, and has laid bare the
activities of the world's super-bagman as it has bought off officials
and rigged contracts around the world.
Amassive leak of confidential documents has for the first time exposed
the true extent of corruption within the oil industry, implicating
dozens of leading companies, bureaucrats and politicians in a
sophisticated global web of bribery and graft.
After a six-month investigation across two continents, Fairfax Media
and The Huffington Post can reveal that billions of dollars of
government contracts were awarded as the direct result of bribes paid
on behalf of firms including British icon Rolls-Royce, US giant
Halliburton, Australia’s Leighton Holdings and Korean heavyweights
Samsung and Hyundai.
The investigation centres on a Monaco company called Unaoil, run by
the jet-setting Ahsani clan. Following a coded ad in a French
newspaper, a series of clandestine meetings and midnight phone calls
led to our reporters obtaining hundreds of thousands of the Ahsanis’
leaked emails and documents.
The trove reveals how they rub shoulders with royalty, party in style,
mock anti-corruption agencies and operate a secret network of fixers
and middlemen throughout the world’s oil producing nations.
Corruption in oil production - one of the world's richest industries
and one that touches us all through our reliance on petrol - fuels
inequality, robs people of their basic needs and causes social unrest
in some of the world's poorest countries. It was among the factors
that prompted the Arab Spring.
Fairfax Media and The Huffington Post today reveal how Unaoil carved
up portions of the Middle East oil industry for the benefit of western
companies between 2002 and 2012.
In part two we will turn to the impoverished former Russian states to
reveal the extent of misbehaviour by multinational companies including
Halliburton. We will conclude the three-part investigation by showing
how corrupt practices have extended deep into Asia and Africa.
Theleakedfilesrevealthatsomepeopleinthesefirmsbelievedtheywerehiringagenuinelobbyist,andotherswhokneworsuspectedtheywerefundingbriberysimplyturnedablindeye.
The leaked files expose as corrupt two Iraqi oil ministers, a fixer
linked to Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, senior officials from
Libya’s Gaddafi regime, Iranian oil figures, powerful officials in the
United Arab Emirates and a Kuwaiti operator known as “the big cheese”.
Western firms involved in Unaoil’s Middle East operation include some
of the world’s wealthiest and most respected companies: Rolls-Royce
and Petrofac from Britain; US companies FMC Technologies, Cameron and
Weatherford; Italian giants Eni and Saipem; German companies MAN Turbo
(now know as MAN Diesal & Turbo) and Siemens; Dutch firm SBM Offshore;
and Indian giant Larsen & Toubro. They also show the offshore arm of
Australian company Leighton Holdings was involved in serious,
calculated corruption.
The leaked files reveal that some people in these firms believed they
were hiring a genuine lobbyist, and others who knew or suspected they
were funding bribery simply turned a blind eye.
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But some knew much more. A handful of senior insiders at firms such as
Spanish company Tecnicas Reunidas, French firm Technip and drilling
giant MI-SWACO, not only actively supported bribery but pocketed their
own kickbacks; US defence giant Honeywell and Australia’s Leighton
Offshore agreed to hide bribes inside fraudulent contracts in Iraq; a
Rolls-Royce manager negotiated a monthly kickback for leaking
information from inside the British firm.
Many of those revealed to have been culpable, including the wealthy
Ahsani family itself, which runs Unaoil, continue to operate with
impunity.
The files expose the betrayal of ordinary people in the Middle East.
After Saddam Hussein was toppled, the US declared Iraq’s oil would be
managed to benefit the Iraqi people. Today, in part one of the ‘Global
Bribe Factory’ expose, that claim is demolished.
THE BRIBE FACTORY
It is the Monaco company that almost perfected the art of corruption.
It is called Unaoil and it is run by members of the Ahsani family -
Monaco millionaires who rub shoulders with princes, sheikhs and
Europe's and America’s elite business crowd. At the head are family
patriarch Ata Ahsani and his two dashing sons, Cyrus and Saman. Their
charities support the arts and children, and Ahsani family members sit
on the boards of NGOs with ex-politicians and billionaires. Ten years
ago, a spreadsheet showed they had cash, shares and property worth 190
million euros. They are members of the global elite.
Left to right: Saman, Cyrus and Ata Ahsani
How they make their money is simple. Oil-rich countries often suffer
poor governance and high levels of corruption. Unaoil’s business plan
is to play on the fears of large Western companies that they cannot
win contracts without its help.
Themulti-milliondollarfeesUnaoiltakesfromitsclientsarefunnelledintoanindustrialscalebriberyoperationwhichfurtherentrenchescorruptionamongthepowerfulfew.
Its operatives then bribe officials in oil-producing nations to help
these clients win government-funded projects. The corrupt officials
might rig a tender committee. Or leak inside information. Or ensure a
contract is awarded without a competitive tender.
If you believe Ata Ahsani, it’s all above board: “We are not in the
business of fixing jobs for people. Our work is basically very basic.
What we do is integrate Western technology with local capability,” he
told Fairfax Media and The Huffington Post.
Did Unaoil bribe public officials? “The answer is absolutely no”.
But the evidence of their own internal email cache, leaked to Fairfax
Media and The Huffington Post, clearly demonstrates that the
multi-million dollar fees Unaoil takes from its clients are funnelled
into an industrial scale bribery operation which further entrenches
corruption among the powerful few.
Bankers in New York and London have facilitated Unaoil’s money
laundering, while the Ahsanis have built a major property investment
business in central London. Since 2007, Unaoil has been certified by
anti-corruption agency Trace International. This in itself raises
serious questions about the worth of such international accreditation.
But for the western companies confronted with questions under anti
foreign bribery laws in their own jurisdictions, Unaoil appears to be
a reputable and discrete middle-man, giving listed businesses what is
known as “plausible deniability”.
Companies approached by Fairfax Media and The Huffington Post about
their contracts with Unaoil have emphasised they have strong
anti-corruption policies, and are committed to investigating their
dealings with Unaoil.
IRAQ
Unaoilpaidatleast$25millioninbribesviamiddlementosecurethesupportofpowerfulofficials—whilecomplaininginternallythattheywere“assholes,andgreedy”
After the US led coalition won the second gulf war, it went to guard
the oil ministry - leaving the Baghdad museum undefended to be looted
of its treasures.
But they did not save the oil industry from thieves. The Unaoil files
reveal that Western companies, in concert with Iraq’s new elite,
themselves began a sustained campaign of looting.
Unaoil paid at least $25 million in bribes via middlemen to secure the
support of powerful officials - while complaining internally that they
were “assholes, and greedy”.
Between 2004 and 2012, Unaoil corruptly influenced a Who’s Who of the
country’s oil industry: the Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq turned
education minister Hussain al-Shahristani; Oil Minister Abdul Kareem
Luaibi (who was replaced in 2014); the Director General of the South
Oil Company, Dhia Jaffar al-Mousawi, who in 2015 became a deputy
minister; and top oil official Oday al-Quraishi.
Iraq
The bad old days of corruption were meant to be over
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The most senior politicians received multi-million dollar lump sums,
while those lower down the food chain were paid lesser amounts.
Quraishi, who oversaw Iraq’s most important oil industry expansion
project, pocketed a monthly kickback of $US6000 – “$5K for him, and
$1k he needs for presents to people within” – along with additional
large pay-offs.
The minister, Dr Shahristani, who is now Iraq’s education minister,
denied he had been involved in any wrongdoing. Other Iraqi officials
did not respond to requests to comment.
Unaoil also bribed senior insiders working for the international oil
companies which were contracted by Iraq to manage its oil fields. The
leaked files reveal rampant corruption inside Italian oil giant Eni,
which ran the tender processes for contractors working on the giant
Zubair oil field.
Unaoil’s clients in Iraq included British giant Rolls-Royce, US firms
FMC Technologies and Cameron, Italy’s Saipem, German company MAN
Turbo, the US listed Weatherford, Dutch company SBM Offshore and
Australia’s Leighton Offshore.
IRAN
Everything works and progresses on connections, relations with special
talent”. So wrote an Iranian fixer, part of Unaoil’s remarkable
network of insiders dedicated to paying and pocketing bribes. After
the recent relaxing of United Nations, US and European sanctions, this
network has become even more valuable.
In 2006, this Unaoil operative complained in emails that one of the
company’s clients, UK firm Weir Pumps (now owned by US firm SPX), owed
him hundreds of thousands of dollars which he had promised to use in
part to sling to others in Iran.
“[It] is the end of Iranian new year here, expectations high, I am
short in cash, and about five million pounds of business with Weir
[is] in danger… Because I can not fulfill my obligations to my team of
Supporters.”
If the money was not forthcoming, he warned, Weir Pumps risked
“melting like a piece of ice, day by day.”
“…over half a million dollars of my consultancy fee… I have already
spend it for the promotion of their businesses in Iran.”
A separate set of leaked memos from 2006 said Unaoil would pay “10
k/month” to secure the support of the managing director of a firm
chaired by a high ranking Iranian official, part owned by an Iranian
government entity and overseen by a board with “political influence.”
“MD [managing director]… wants $10k/month. AA [Ata Ahsani of Unaoil]
agree to this given his excellent connections.”
Unaoil’s Iranian network – which was also used to assist firms such as
ABB, Elliott and Japan’s Yokogawa – extends beyond the oil industry.
In 2011, Unaoil helped solve a dispute involving one of its Australian
clients by reaching out to “several influential contacts… including
the head of the Iranian Police”.
Prior to the recent easing of sanctions, Unaoil used strategies
including front companies to avoid the scrutiny of Western officials.
It advised its corrupt fixers to not wire funds using US dollars and
to use companies “not having the name Iran in it”.
LIBYA
“…whattypeofBaksheeshisneededtopresenttothesemeninordertogetwork”
In 2004, when the West began removing sanctions against Libya, and the
regime of Colonel Gaddafi started dealing with foreign companies,
Unaoil stood ready.
By 2011, its network of corrupt insiders included officials and front
men able to influence the dealings of many of Libya’s most important
oil and gas agencies.
In late 2008, a Canadian drilling firm, Canuck Completions, told
Unaoil it was “curious about … what type of Baksheesh is needed to
present to these men in order to get work” in Libya.
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Among Unaoil’s corrupt insiders was the powerful Libyan official,
Mustafa Zarti, a confidant for the Gaddafi regime. Unaoil’s files
describe Zarti as “good friends of President Ghadafi's [sic] son of
Libya and have lot of influence in lobbying the jobs in Libya”. Unaoil
agreed to secretly pay Zarti millions of dollars. In return he would
use his influence to advantage Unaoil’s clients.
“MZ [Zarti] sits on the board of LFIC [Libyan Foreign Investment
Committee] … which controls… Oil fund ($6bn) … He sees his role as us
executing and him fixing issues we come across. MZ has agreed to bring
all his oil & gas work to us,” a September 2006 Unaoil memo said.
Unaoil’s multinational clients in Libya included Malaysian giant
Ranhill, Korean conglomerate ISU and Spanish company Tecnicas
Reunidas.
SYRIA AND YEMEN
In Syria, Unaoil turned to a middleman close to the regime of Syrian
president Bashar al-Assad.
In 2008 and 2009, Unaoil promised the man 2.75 million euros who
helped its British client Petrofac win contracts from Assad regime
petroleum companies. “Strictly confidential” emails from 2008 show
this middleman promised to pay others to win these contracts.
But when he was not paid on time, he complained the delays were
causing problems with “friends” in Syria.
“It is becoming very unpleasant [sic] for me not delivering as
expected,” he wrote to Unaoil in December 2009.
Petrofac is understood to be unaware of Unaoil’s involvement in its
Syrian dealings and in response to questions said it “aspires to the
highest standards of ethical behaviour”.
In Yemen, Unaoil paid millions to a. Swiss account belonging to fixer
and businessman Haitham Alaini, the son of the former Yemeni prime
minister. In return, Alaini used his contacts in the Yemen to help
Unaoil.
KUWAIT AND THE UAE
In Kuwait, Unaoil had on its payroll a powerful official who they
called “the big cheese.”
To direct a contract to Unaoil’s long term client in the Middle East,
US firm FMC Technologies, Unaoil wanted a payment of $2.5 million. It
then planned to assign a middleman to handle “the big cheese in Kuwait
and to decide what portion… should go to that man”.
In the UAE, Unaoil’s network included a public official with links to
the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. The leaked Unaoil files reveal this
official had commercial dealings with the Ahsanis who, in return, were
seeking the official’s backing in the region. This included an entree
to a project funded by the office of “His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin
Zayed”.
Unaoil corrupted a senior official in a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi’s
National Oil company. This insider rigged a tender panel for a Unaoil
client, Indian conglomerate Larsen & Toubro.
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Received on Wed Mar 30 2016 - 12:33:27 EDT