Related Federal Cases
UK Citizen Pleads Guilty to Bribing Nigerian Officials
WASHINGTON – Wojciech J. Chodan, a former commercial vice president and consultant to a United Kingdom subsidiary of Kellogg, Brown & Root Inc. (KBR), pleaded guilty today to conspiring to bribe Nigerian government officials to obtain engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts, Grimy Times reports.
The EPC contracts to build liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities on Bonny Island, Nigeria, were valued at more than $6 billion. Chodan, 72, a U.K. citizen, was extradited from the United Kingdom to the United States on Dec. 3, 2010, and pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Houston before U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison to one count of conspiracy to bribe Nigerian officials.
As part of his plea agreement, Chodan agreed to forfeit $726,885. The maximum penalty for the conspiracy charge is 60 months in prison. Chodan’s sentencing has been scheduled for Feb. 22, 2011.
Chodan admitted that from approximately 1994 through June 2004, he and his co-conspirators agreed to pay bribes to Nigerian government officials, including top-level executive branch officials, in order to obtain and retain the EPC contracts. The joint venture paid approximately $132 million to a Gibraltar corporation controlled by Jeffrey Tesler and more than $50 million to the Japanese trading company.
In related cases, KBR’s former CEO, Albert ‘Jack’ Stanley, pleaded guilty in September 2008 to conspiring to bribe Nigerian officials, while KBR’s successor company, Kellogg Brown & Root LLC, pleaded guilty in February 2009 to FCPA-related charges for its participation in the scheme to bribe Nigerian 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.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief William J. Stuckwisch and Deputy Chief Patrick F. Stokes of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, with investigative assistance from the FBI-Houston Division. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs provided substantial assistance, along with the SEC’s Division of Enforcement and authorities in France, Italy, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
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Key Facts
- State: Federal
- Category: Public Corruption|Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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