Jeffrey Tesler, Bribery, Texas 2009

UK Citizen Charged with Bribery in Lucrative Nigerian Contract Scheme

A shocking bribery scandal has rocked the Nigerian government, with two UK citizens facing charges of conspiring to bribe officials to secure lucrative engineering contracts. Jeffrey Tesler, 60, of London, England, and Wojciech Chodan, 71, of Maidenhead, England, were indicted on February 17, 2009, in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

According to the indictment, Tesler was hired in 1995 as an agent of a four-company joint venture that was awarded four engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts by Nigeria LNG Ltd., (NLNG) between 1995 and 2004 to build liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities on Bonny Island. The government-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was the largest shareholder of NLNG, owning 49 percent of the company.

Tesler allegedly used the joint venture to bribe high-level Nigerian government officials, including top-level executive branch officials, and another agent to bribe lower level Nigerian government officials, including employees of NLNG. The joint venture paid approximately $132 million to a Gibraltar corporation allegedly controlled by Tesler to use to bribe Nigerian government officials.

The indictment also seeks forfeiture of more than $130 million from the defendants. If convicted on all charges, each defendant faces a maximum prison sentence of 55 years. An indictment is merely a charge and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The Justice Department is seeking the defendants’ extradition from the United Kingdom to the United States to stand trial. There is an outstanding arrest warrant in the United States for Chodan, who is currently at large.

In a related criminal case, KBR’s successor company, Kellogg Brown & Root LLC, pleaded guilty in February 2009 to charges related to the FCPA for its participation in the scheme to bribe Nigerian government officials. Kellogg Brown & Root LLC was ordered to pay a $402 million fine and to retain an independent compliance monitor for a three-year period to review the design and implementation of its compliance program as well as make reports to the company and the government.

Tesler was arrested by the London Metropolitan Police today, while Chodan remains at large. The case highlights the deep corruption that has plagued Nigeria's government and the need for strong anti-bribery laws to hold companies and individuals accountable for their actions.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/two-uk-citizens-charged-united-states-bribing-nigerian-government-officials-obtain-lucrative