Royal Dutch Shell and the Destruction of Nigeria
Royal Dutch Shell and the Destruction of Nigeria
Sir Henri Deterding and the Nazi History of Royal Dutch Shell: Evil Conduct in Nigeria
by John Donovan
Royal Dutch Shell plc .com
Extract from the Kindle Edition of my ebook: Sir Henri Deterding and the Nazi History of Royal Dutch Shell
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As stated in the ebook, in July 2015, an investigator visited me seeking advice and information in connection with the OPL 245 scandal. I was pleased to assist.
FROM PAGES 165 & 166 under the heading: Shell Corruption, Spying, and Pollution in Nigeria
In the 1990’s Shell had a close relationship with the corrupt Nigerian dictator, General Sani Abacha, during Shell’s plunder and pollution of the Niger Delta. The corruption continued in more recent times. In November 2010, the US Securities and Exchange Commission announced settlements with freight forwarding company Panalpina, Inc. and six other companies in the oil services industry that violated the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Royal Dutch Shell was one of the companies. Shell agreed to a cease-and-desist order to pay disgorgement and prejudgmentinterest of over $18 million plus a criminal fine of $30 million.
In 2004, Shell admitted fuelling conflict, poverty and corruption in Nigeria. The admission came after I published a leaked Shell report commissioned by Shell.
In June 2004, Shell offered to pay $51 million to settle a Nigerian oil spills claim.
In 2005, Shell admitted that it had once again missed a target date to end gas flaring in Nigeria – “the harmful practice of burning unwanted gas.”
In June 2009, Shell paid out $15.5 million to a group of Ogoni plaintiffs to settle a case against Shell for human rights abuse in Nigeria.
On 4 November 2010, the Telegraph reported in a related articlethat Royal Dutch Shell: admitted they “approved of or condoned the payment of bribes on their behalf in Nigeria and falsely recorded the bribe payments made on their behalf as legitimate business expenses in their corporate books, records and accounts”.
Extract from a related article in The Wall Street Journal:
Royal Dutch Shell PLC agreed to pay a disgorgement of $18.15 million and a $30 million criminal fine after being charged by the SEC with conspiring to violate the anti-bribery and books provisions of the FCPA for using a customs broker to pay officials to get preferential treatment related to a project in Nigeria. It entered into a deferred-prosecution agreement with the Justice Department.
The Daily Express also covered the story: “Shell in bribery fine.”
In December 2010, leaked US Embassy cables revealed that a senior Shell executive, Ann Pickard, boasted that Shell had embedded spies throughout the Nigerian government.
In October 2011, the Guardian newspaper accused Shell of paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to feuding militant groups in Nigeria attacking Shell pipelines.
In November 2014, Friends of the Earth accused Shell of lying to the Dutch Courts about oil spills in Nigeria.
In Jan 2015, multiple news sources announced that Shell had settled litigation brought by 15,600 Nigerian fishermen for Shell oil spills in Nigeria. Shell agreed to pay $83.5 million.
Also in January 2015, multiple Dutch news sources reported that Shell knew of fraud and money-laundering activities of an individual involved in Shell’s purchase for more than a billion US dollars of a Nigerian offshore oilfield known as OPL 245.
A news magazine pointed out: “it is laid down in Shell’s Statement of General Business Principles that the company will not do business with probable criminals.”
In March 2016, multiple news sources reported that Nigerian communities have been given the go-ahead to sue Shell in UK courts over oil spills in Nigeria. I was pleased to provide extensive assistance on a confidential basis to Leigh Day, the London law firm acting for the relevant Nigerian plaintiffs.
Extracts from a Reuters article: “UK police probing Shell, ENI Nigerian oil block deal”:
British police are investigating a money-laundering allegation related to a big oil field bought by Shell and ENI from Nigeria for $1.3 billion (846.46 million pounds), after most of the cash they paid ended up in a company linked to a former Nigerian oil minister.
The probe concerns offshore block OPL 245…
“The proceeds of crime unit is investigating a money-laundering allegation in the UK in connection with OPL 245. The investigation is at an early stage,” a UK spokesman said.
Transparency campaigners, who asked the UK to look into the matter, assert that Shell and ENI used the Nigerian government as a go-between to obscure the fact that they were dealing with former oil minister Dan Etete, who also has a 2007 money-laundering conviction in France related to bribes he was alleged to have taken when in government.
In his capacity as oil minister, Etete awarded block OPL 245 in 1998 for a payment of just $2 million to Malabu Oil and Gas, a company in which he played a prominent role.
In July 2015, an investigator visited me seeking advice and information in connection with the case.