180,000 pounds: 4 charged in the UK for bribing Rivers govt officials

by Akan Ido

Three men and one woman were yesterday charged at a London criminal court for conspiring to bribe Nigerian officials to lower taxes paid by Swift Technical Energy Solutions Ltd. employees.

The four suspects, all British nationals, were former employees of the company.

Their arraignment follows a two-year probe of the company, which is a Nigerian subsidiary of the Swift Group of companies, the U.K.

The defendants allegedly paid a total of 180,000 pounds in bribes in 2008 and 2009 to agents of the Rivers State Board of Internal Revenue and the Lagos State Board of Internal Revenue, according to prosecutors.

The suspects were the chief financial officer, tax manager, financial controller and area director for Nigeria when the incident allegedly happened.

According to reports, the bribes were paid to avoid, reduce or delay paying taxes on behalf of the oil- and gas-industry workers whom Swift sent to Nigeria, the SFO said. The case was transferred to a higher criminal court for a hearing on February 22, 2013 and the defendants were released on bail.

Andrew Honnor, the company’s spokesman said, “The company itself is not under investigation and has fully supported the inquiry.”

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