Prosecutor in the Nigerian corruption case involving Eni, an Italian oil group, has said the company oil company has attempted to tamper with the court case.
According to reports on Reuters, Prosecutor Fabio De Pasquale on Wednesday said in a trial hearing that officials of Eni approached Vincenzo Armanna, a defendant and witness in the case, to withdraw some statements made during investigations.
“We have become aware that Eni, through its managers, have tried to influence and would have approached the defendant (Vincenzo) Armanna to convince him to withdraw some of his statements,” De Pasquale said.
Armanna, a former manager who led Eni to acquire OPL-245 field in 2011, had informed investigators that his former colleagues were aware of the shoddy transactions involved in purchasing rights to a Nigerian oilfield.
He said a security official for President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan told him Eni top management would get $50 million as kickbacks from the oil deal. Armanna is said to have received bribe for himself too.
De Pasquale accused Eni of obstruction of justice during a debate over Eni lawyer’s request to adjourn proceedings to look into evidence alleging interference with due process in a similar investigation.
The court however refused to grant an adjournment; instead it put Armanna on the stand for the oil field corruption case while it is yet to act on the new accusation against the Italian oil firm.
Eni denied claims of obstruction of justice. The oil company has also insisted on its innocence in the corruption trial also referred to as Malabu case which has involved many actors including Shell, JPMorgan and political figures in Nigeria.
The on-going case began in 2011 when Shell and Eni reportedly paid $1.3 billion into the coffers of the Nigerian government for a Nigerian offshore oilfield license.
The oilfield called OPL245 was said to have been worth $3 billion but most of the payments made by the Shell and Eni ended up in Malabu Oil and Gas, controlled by Dan Etete, then oil minister of Nigeria.
Several organisations and individuals were named as complicit in the fraud against Nigeria. Action has been sought against some named actors both in London and Italian courts.
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