Malabu SCANDALS: How Jonathan Got $200m Bribe - Italian Prosecutor Reveals To FBI

Premium Times - Former President Goodluck Jonathan probably received as much as $200 million to approve the controversial $1.3 billion sale of OPL 245 oil field, Italian prosecutors said in court documents.

The documents, which were extracts of a thorough investigation by Italian authorities into the deal, also confirmed that Shell and ENI knew a good chunk of the $1.3 billion would be disbursed as kickbacks to Nigerian politicians, yet went ahead with the deal.

The findings were obtained by BuzzFeed and Italian business newspaper, Il Sole 24 Ore. BuzzFeed released its own version earlier today.

The prosecutors quoted Ednan Agaev, a Russian middleman who helped negotiate the transfer of the oil block to Shell and Eni, as saying that Dan Etete, the former Petroleum Minister at the heart of the oil scandal, said he intended to dole out as much as $400 million in bribes if the deal went through.

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If Mr. Etete actually paid out such an amount in bribes to Nigerian officials, “Agaev stated that he would think President Goodluck Jonathan got at least $200 million of this money,” BuzzFeed quoted an excerpt of FBI submissions to Italian authorities as saying.

The revelations were made when the FBI interviewed Mr. Agaev, whom prosecutors also said met with Mr. Jonathan on more than one occasion in Nigeria during the OPL 245 negotiations.

Mr. Agaev, who was Mr. Etete’s representative in the negotiation, said the convicted former petroleum minister told him of the $400 million bribe to Nigerian politicians when he approached him for his payment.

When FBI detectives asked Mr. Agaev about payment of his commission, he “stated that he went to Etete and told him to pay him the $65,000,000 fee. Agaev stated that Etete said, ‘I can’t pay you, I have to pay Adoke [Mohammed Bello Adoke, then Nigeria’s attorney general] $400 million and all the other people in the Senate and the National assembly.”

The Russian also repeated the claim in a follow-up interview with Italian prosecutors, led by Fabio De Pasquale in Milan.

“I said that if it’s true, that he paid, he had to pay 400 million, I assume that at least 200 went to Goodluck (Jonathan).”

“I heard from Chief (Etete), he claims that he had to pay 400 million, so, if this is true, if he paid 400 million, then most probably the President, as the biggest boss, took at least the half of it,” BuzzFeed wrote, quoting documents prepared by Italian prosecutors.

The findings, which included internal emails and phone conversations of Shell’s officials and agents, also revealed how Mr. Etete’s wife allegedly stated that her husband was getting only a part of the total sum paid by Shell.

“The rest goes in paying people off,” BuzzFeed reported.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how Mr. Etete, who alongside Mr. Adoke has since been charged by the EFCC for his role in the scandal, told a British Court that only $250 million of the $801 million he received from the Malabu payment was his. Others are believed to have been shared to politically exposed persons including Messrs. Adoke and Jonathan.

The findings reported on Sunday are the latest revelations about the controversial deal, which was struck in 2011. The $1.3 billion was paid by Shell and Eni into a Nigerian government account in London, with $1.1 billion transferred in addition to an earlier $201 million earlier paid by Shell to the Nigerian government. About $801 million of the money was then transferred from the Nigerian government account into Malabu accounts controlled by Mr. Etete.

JONATHAN, ADOKE MAINTAIN INNOCENCE

Despite the fact that their names have repeatedly featured in different investigations across many jurisdictions, Messrs. Jonathan and Adoke have denied any wrongdoing.

Instead, they said they helped Nigeria wave huge losses that the country would have otherwise suffered had the deal not been signed at the time.

Mr. Jonathan’s spokesperson, Ikechukwu Eze, could not be reached for comments about the latest revelations Sunday morning. But he exonerated the former president in a January 10 statement about the Malabu oil deal.

“We wish to make it clear that former President Jonathan was not accused, indicted or charged for corruptly collecting any monies as kickbacks or bribes from ENI by the Italian authorities or any other law enforcement body the world over,” the statement said.

Mr. Adoke had repeatedly stated that he didn’t do anything wrong in allowing the Nigerian government to proceed with the controversial deal as the Attorney-General of the Federation.

Last month, Mr. Adoke accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission of being used by political interests, after the anti-graft agency slammed charges of corruption and money laundering against him in connection with the OPL 245 scandal.

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$1.6b Malabu Oil Fraud: Ex-AGF, Adoke 'IMPLICATES' Jonathan

A former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), yesterday faulted the charge of alleged involvement in a $1.6billion Malabu Oil deal against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), saying his involvement in the oil deal was ordered by former President Goodluck Jonathan, The Nation Newspaper reports

He said although the charge was irrational, he was prepared to make himself available to defend it at the appropriate time.

He said he did not benefit in any way from the auctioning of Oil Prospecting Licence 245(OPL 245), popularly referred to as Malabu Oil Block.

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Adoke, in a statement, said he got requisite approvals from the former President Goodluck Jonathan to broker the settlement and execute the OPL 245 Settlement Agreement.

The statement reads: “My attention has been drawn to the charges filed by the EFCC against me and other named individuals and companies in respect of OPL 245 Settlement Agreement involving Malabu Oil & Gas Limited and Shell Nigeria Ultra Deep Limited.

“The charge of aiding the commission of money laundering offences preferred against me has finally confirmed the orchestrated plans to bring me to public disrepute in order to satisfy the whims and caprices of some powerful interests on revenge mission.

“I wish to reiterate that I acted within the actual and ostensible authority of the office I occupied to broker a settlement between Malabu Oil & Gas Limited and Shell Nigeria Ultra Deep Limited in order to ward off the over $2billion liability in damages for breach of contract which the country would have been exposed to in the likely event of the success of Shell Nigeria Ultra Deep Limited’s claim before the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

“The Terms of Settlement ensured that the interests of the Federal Government of Nigeria, Malabu Oil & Gas Limited and Shell Nigeria Ultra Deep Limited were duly acknowledged and provided for in the Settlement Agreement.

“The Federal Government of Nigeria was entitled to the Signature bonus which was duly paid; Malabu Oil & Gas Limited surrendered its title to OPL 245 for a consideration and Shell Nigeria Ultra Deep Limited was re-allocated OPL 245 which it had previously substantially de-risked in consideration for withdrawing their over US$ 2billion claim for breach of contract against the Federal Government of Nigeria.”

Adoke gave more insights into why the Jonathan administration executed the Settlement Agreement.

He added: “Since the Parties aforementioned, faithfully discharged their respective obligations under the Settlement Agreement, one cannot comprehend how the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation which brokered the Settlement was expected to renege from the agreement by denying Malabu Oil & Gas Limited the benefits associated with the relinquishing of their title to OPL 245 already warehoused in a joint FGN/Shell Escrow account, or to prevent the subsequent re-allocation of the relinquished OPL 245 to Shell Nigeria Ultra Deep Limited when the company  had already furnished consideration for it to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

“I am of the respectful view that it should be clear to any person dispassionately reviewing the transaction to confirm that I had no personal interest in the transaction; I did not take any benefit from it, I had requisite approvals from the President and Commander in Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to broker the settlement and execute the OPL 245 Settlement Agreement.

“I am therefore unable to rationalise the charge of aiding the commission of money laundering offences preferred against me by the EFCC.  But be that as it may, I hope to at the appropriate time make myself available to defend the charges for what whatever its worth.”

Malabu Oil Scandal: Ex-AGF Adoke Quizzed By Netherlands Police

Embattled former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, is reported to have been questioned by Netherlands security officials over his role in the Malabu oil, Guardian Newspaper says

It would be recalled that Adoke, in a letter to Vice-Presdient Yemi Osinbajo, stated that he is currently pursuing a university degree in Netherlands, hence his inability to honor the invitation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to answer questions on his role in the oil deal.

He also denied any wrong doing, saying that his detractors were making false allegations against him.

According to the Guardian Newspaper, Dutch Prosecutors have opened a case file on the ex-AGF- based on documents passed across to them by the Italian government investigators, who are investigating the role played by an Italian company, ENI, in the Malabu oil deal.

A source, who spoke to Guardian, confirmed that the Italian investigators have a “huge file” on the oil scandal, and are collaborating with the Netherlands to investigate Adoke.

According to the source: “They told us that they have already visited him once. He was not arrested but they have had a meeting with him already.”

The source also revealed that the government was also investigating several individuals who were given money in foreign currencies after the settlement was concluded.

However, the unnamed source stated that nothing was found on a particular individual who was not a direct beneficiary of the deal.

“I must tell you that this particular person was smart. We didn’t find anything on him even though he shared what came out of it. He used fronts – shell companies – so it is taking more time to track anything to him. Those already fingered in collecting money include two former ministers and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. They were said to have got $10 million dollars each,” the source was quoted to have said.

EFCC is yet to comment on the development.