A UK probe into suspected bribery at Rolls-Royce, the engineering group,<\/p>\n
has spread to Nigeria in the latest blow to a company already facing
\ninvestigations in multiple countries.<\/p>\n
Britain\u2019s Serious Fraud Office is examining Rolls-Royce\u2019s former energy
\noperations in the oil-rich west African state, as part of a wider inquiry
\nthat also covers Brazil, Indonesia and China, the Financial Times has
\nlearnt.
\nThe addition of Nigeria underscores the seriousness of allegations against
\nRolls-Royce and highlights the growing focus by western investigators on
\nsuspected misconduct by businesses outside their home states.
\nThe expanded probe comes as Rolls-Royce seeks to re-establish credibility
\nwith investors after five profit warnings in less than two years. It also
\nthrows light on another side to graft problems in countries such as
\nNigeria, which David Cameron, UK prime minister, unguardedly declared to
\nbe \u201cfantastically corrupt\u201d in remarks overheard last week.
\nBoth the Serious Fraud Office and Rolls-Royce said they did not comment on
\nongoing investigations.
\nThe company added that it was co-operating with relevant authorities. \u201cWe
\nhave made it clear that Rolls-Royce will not tolerate business misconduct
\nof any kind,\u201d it said.
\nRolls-Royce was first approached by the SFO in 2012 regarding allegations
\nof corruption in Indonesia and China. The company then appointed law firm
\nDebevoise & Plimpton to investigate. Certain businesses in those countries
\nand others were \u201cred flagged\u201d and files were passed to the SFO, which
\nlaunched a criminal investigation a year later. The US Department of
\nJustice is also looking at the issue.
\nWarren East, the chief executive appointed last July, has said unethical
\nbehaviour will not be tolerated and the group has cut the number of
\nthird-party agents used abroad significantly over the past few years.<\/p>\n
The SFO Nigeria investigation is examining whether Rolls-Royce and its
\nagents were involved in any bribery of government officials up to the
\nyear 2013 in connection with energy tenders in the country and a Nigerian
\ncompany called PSL Engineering & Control, people familiar with the
\nsituation said.
\nPSL acted for Rolls-Royce on projects in Nigeria to supply gas turbines to
\npower plants in the oil states of Bayelsa and Delta, according to PSL\u2019s
\nwebsite.
\nRolls-Royce sold its energy business to Siemens of Germany in 2014, after
\nthe period under investigation, and it no longer does business with PSL.
\nA PSL official who answered the phone at the company\u2019s Lagos headquarters
\nsaid he was not aware of any investigation. He said PSL would deal with
\nemailed questions from the FT, but the company has not yet responded.<\/p>\n
One focus of the SFO investigation is a Delta state government project
\nknown as the Oghareki power plant, the FT has learnt. The venture has cost
\nmore than $100m but has never been completed and has been plagued by
\ncorruption claims, according to Nigerian media reports.
\nThe project was awarded in 2009 to Davnotch Nigeria, a company founded by
\nVictor Ochei, a flamboyant former speaker of the Delta state house of
\nassembly. Mr Ochei\u2019s website describes him as an \u201cuncommonly well-rounded
\nman of letters, experience and character with well-honed leadership skills
\nand a passion for public service\u201d.
\nNorbert Osodi, Davnotch\u2019s managing director, said by email that the
\ncompany was not aware of the SFO investigation. He said Davnotch had won
\nthe Oghareki tender through proper processes. He added that past
\nallegations of corruption against the project were \u201cnot credible\u201d and had
\nbeen mounted by Mr Ochei\u2019s political enemies.
\nMr Osodi said there was no conflict of interest between Mr Ochei\u2019s
\nsimultaneous holdings of a majority shareholding in Davnotch and his
\npolitical seat, because the parliamentary position was part-time. Mr Ochei
\ndivested his interest in Davnotch in June 2011, when he became house
\nspeaker.
\nAttempts to reach Mr Ochei were unsuccessful. Neither he nor the Delta
\nstate government responded to requests for comment submitted through their
\nwebsites.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A UK probe into suspected bribery at Rolls-Royce, the engineering group, has spread to Nigeria in the latest blow to a company already facing investigations in multiple countries. Britain\u2019s Serious…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n