The company that bribed the world

[GG]

 

Haliburton, Honeywell, FMC Technologies, Weatherford, Core Labs, Cameron Drilling -- and that's just in less than two days of the story breaking and less than one day of the FBI and DoJ opening their investigations... but those don't count, right?

 

But for clarity my laughter was over your naivety claiming that American companies aren't active participants in corruption because they're scared of the law. They make the law. They own the law makers and the media. You're living in a fairy tale if you actually believe what you wrote.

 

Yes American companies are not active participants. If anything they use the pretext of the bribes to nail their competitors who do engage in bribery and then face stiff penalties in the US. Perhaps you can explain how else the US government can severely punish Siemens for bribes paid in Africa.

[Deranged Rhino]

Tin pot dictators of failed states requiring direct monetary incentive be paid to them in order that they allow their nations resources be extracted.

 

Tell me why I should care?

 

Again, you have the narrative twisted.

 

The companies in this scandal caused these "failed states" by coming into developing nations and destabilizing them in order to get what they want. Installing and working with those who are willing to be corrupted, not the other way around.

 

You should care because this directly impacts (and has shaped) our foreign policy, where and when we go to war, on top of the fact it's blatant exploitation of vulnerable developing nations, ruining any chance they have to step up into the world of legitimate nations (because legitimate nations are harder to strip for parts by corporate vultures).

 

And of course there is the tie in to the War on Terror and how widespread corruption like this is, and always has been, a major recruitment tool for terrorists around the globe.

 

Yes American companies are not active participants.

 

Incorrect and frankly ignorant considering we spent trillions of dollars and lost over 3,000 service men to help Haliburton and company to rape the natural resources in the region.

 

As tens of thousands of secret emails reveal, Al Jarah and Unaoil were at the heart of a global bribery operation funded, sometimes wittingly, by dozens of US, British, European and Australian multinationals. These firms paid huge sums to Unaoil. In return, Unaoil used its friends in high places to win billions of dollars worth of government contracts.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/unaoil-bribe-scandal_us_56fc3e7de4b0a06d5804a532(new article)

 

More:

 

Raids in Monaco:

http://www.theage.com.au/business/energy/unaoil-chiefs-questioned-by-police-after-fairfax-revelations-20160401-gnvw9u

 

More, the NYT is getting into it now: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/03/31/world/europe/ap-eu-monaco-corruption.html?_r=0

 

Fairfax, which described the trove as "the biggest leak of confidential files in the history of the oil industry," said the files held evidence of bribes paid to Middle Eastern oil chiefs and other officials, sometimes with the knowledge — and occasionally with the active participation — of the multinationals involved. Investigative reporter Nick McKenzie said that initial tip-off about the scandal arrived in the mail, with instructions to place an ad in a French newspaper carrying the code words "Monte Christo" if he wanted to know more.

Fairfax said UNAOIL did not challenge of the authenticity of the documents involved and instead sent a letter through its lawyers demanding that Farifax wipe the material from its servers.

Edited April 1, 2016 by Deranged Rhino

[3rdnlng]

 

Again, you have the narrative twisted.

 

The companies in this scandal caused these "failed states" by coming into developing nations and destabilizing them in order to get what they want. Installing and working with those who are willing to be corrupted, not the other way around.

 

You should care because this directly impacts (and has shaped) our foreign policy, where and when we go to war, on top of the fact it's blatant exploitation of vulnerable developing nations, ruining any chance they have to step up into the world of legitimate nations (because legitimate nations are harder to strip for parts by corporate vultures).

 

And of course there is the tie in to the War on Terror and how widespread corruption like this is, and always has been, a major recruitment tool for terrorists around the globe.

 

Incorrect and frankly ignorant considering we spent trillions of dollars and lost over 3,000 service men to help Haliburton and company to rape the natural resources in the region.

 

As tens of thousands of secret emails reveal, Al Jarah and Unaoil were at the heart of a global bribery operation funded, sometimes wittingly, by dozens of US, British, European and Australian multinationals. These firms paid huge sums to Unaoil. In return, Unaoil used its friends in high places to win billions of dollars worth of government contracts.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/unaoil-bribe-scandal_us_56fc3e7de4b0a06d5804a532(new article)

 

More:

 

Raids in Monaco:

http://www.theage.com.au/business/energy/unaoil-chiefs-questioned-by-police-after-fairfax-revelations-20160401-gnvw9u

 

More, the NYT is getting into it now: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/03/31/world/europe/ap-eu-monaco-corruption.html?_r=0

 

Fairfax, which described the trove as "the biggest leak of confidential files in the history of the oil industry," said the files held evidence of bribes paid to Middle Eastern oil chiefs and other officials, sometimes with the knowledge — and occasionally with the active participation — of the multinationals involved. Investigative reporter Nick McKenzie said that initial tip-off about the scandal arrived in the mail, with instructions to place an ad in a French newspaper carrying the code words "Monte Christo" if he wanted to know more.

Fairfax said UNAOIL did not challenge of the authenticity of the documents involved and instead sent a letter through its lawyers demanding that Farifax wipe the material from its servers.

You are living up to your screen name here. When this schit hits Niagara Falls (U.S.) corruption levels maybe I'll get somewhat concerned.

[KD in CA]

Is this another 'corrupt politicians = capitalism bad' story?

 

Stop the rich!! Vote for Hillary!!

[TakeYouToTasker]

So, you're asserting that Haliburton caused the Arab Spring?

[GG]

 

Again, you have the narrative twisted.

 

The companies in this scandal caused these "failed states" by coming into developing nations and destabilizing them in order to get what they want. Installing and working with those who are willing to be corrupted, not the other way around.

 

 

I do not have the narrative twisted. What is it about Halliburton that sends you people into an epileptic fit? Fact is that if there's a major oil deal going on anywhere in the world, there's a near 100% probability that either Halliburton or Schlumberger will be involved. Why? Because they're the only two companies that have the global reach and technology to work on massive oil deals. These aren't local contracts to open up a pizzeria.

 

So the Fairfax reporter uncovered a Monaco fixer who acts as the intermediary between major oil firms (mostly foreign) and local officials. And the supposition is that the banana republic honchos want palms greased before contracts are awarded? Well, color me shocked.

[GG]

I'm guessing the fixers got invited to this wedding.

[GG]

This is going to shake some cages. Who would have thought oil and gas companies, or giant companies with unchecked power and wealth in general, would be so shady?

 

 

 

I'm guessing it's probably a shade below Hollywood?

 

Global investigators now believe much of the money to make the movie (The Wolf of Wall Street) about a stock scam was diverted from a state fund 9,000 miles away in Malaysia, a fund that had been established to spur local economic development.

 

 

The irony is priceless in many ways here.

[Keukasmallies]

Crap, I thought this thread was about either the Catholic Church or the USA.

[Deranged Rhino]

Banks wrapped up in the investigation, including Citibank: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/unaoil-citibank-hsbc_us_56feba02e4b0daf53aefa1da

 

Two federal statutes, the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 and the Patriot Act of 2001, make it a crime for banks to knowingly process transactions related to illegal activity or to ignore red flags that they may be allowing illegal cash to flow through the financial system. Whether Citibank or HSBC broke the law depends on whether investigators determine that Unaoil’s deals were illegal and whether the banks knew or should have known about that.

Thousands of internal Unaoil emails obtained by HuffPost and Fairfax Media make clear that both HSBC and Citibank were intimately involved in Unaoil’s complex finances.

In Kazakhstan, Unaoil helped U.S. energy conglomerate KBR and British oil company Petrofac secure millions of dollars of work on the Kashagan oil field, one of the biggest fossil fuel discoveries of the 21st century. The joint contract was facilitated by huge payments that Unaoil made to a consultant working for Kazakhstan’s state-owned oil company. That arrangement could potentially run afoul of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bars companies that do business in the United States from paying bribes to foreign government agents.

In a statement to HuffPost and Fairfax Media, Unaoil founder Ata Ahsani denied that his firm bribed public officials. “The answer is absolutely no,” Ahsani said.

The KBR money went through HSBC’s Private Bank subsidiary in Monaco, according to emails. The Petrofac funds went through Citibank’s affiliate in Geneva, Switzerland, until late 2008, when they began flowing through HSBC. HSBC also executed trades in shares of Petrofac stock on behalf of Unaoil. On the Kazakhstan deal alone, HSBC processed millions of dollars in payments to Unaoil from KBR.

Is this another 'corrupt politicians = capitalism bad' story?

 

Stop the rich!! Vote for Hillary!!

 

It's not a capitalism is bad story. It's an unchecked corruption is bad story.

 

So, you're asserting that Haliburton caused the Arab Spring?

 

Not at all.

 

 

I do not have the narrative twisted. What is it about Halliburton that sends you people into an epileptic fit? Fact is that if there's a major oil deal going on anywhere in the world, there's a near 100% probability that either Halliburton or Schlumberger will be involved. Why? Because they're the only two companies that have the global reach and technology to work on massive oil deals. These aren't local contracts to open up a pizzeria.

 

So the Fairfax reporter uncovered a Monaco fixer who acts as the intermediary between major oil firms (mostly foreign) and local officials. And the supposition is that the banana republic honchos want palms greased before contracts are awarded? Well, color me shocked.

 

You do. That's not the supposition.

***********

 

More articles today: http://www.theage.com.au/interactive/2016/the-bribe-factory/day-3/asian-powers.html

 

A trove of leaked emails from inside Unaoil show it working closely with Malaysia’s national oil company Petronas, as well as South Korean titans Hyundai and Samsung, and even the Chinese government giant Sinopec. The oil industry’s biggest ever scandal has also exposed Asian conglomerates Yokogawa of Japan, South Korea’s ISU, Singapore’s Keppel and Malaysian firm Ranhill.

The emails show some Asian executives are enthusiastic participants in graft, underscoring the pervasive culture of corruption across the region. It’s an alarming proposition as Asian companies develop into some of the most powerful and influential players in global business.

The massive leak of files from Unaoil this week has already sparked investigations by the US Department of Justice, the FBI, Britain’s National Crime Agency and other authorities.

Today, we reveal how Unaoil’s corrupt dealings with its multinational clients has also infected the fast-growing African oil industry.

[Deranged Rhino]

For those keeping score, three days into this story and the BBC, all major US tv media outlets and most papers (outside of NYT) have done a total of zero reporting on this story.

 

... But of course that is because it only impacts foreign companies and there's nothing to see to this story.

[TakeYouToTasker]

For those keeping score, three days into this story and the BBC, all major US tv media outlets and most papers (outside of NYT) have done a total of zero reporting on this story.

 

... But of course that is because it only impacts foreign companies and there's nothing to see to this story.

It's not a story. That's why.

[Deranged Rhino]

Only a matter of time...

 

Unaoil Scandal and the Panama Papers

 

But in the case of Unaoil, Fairfax Media earlier this month revealed how its British Virgin Islands and Marshall Islands tax haven companies were used to channel corrupt payments to politicians, officials and oil industry executives in several countries.

The revelation of Mr Marandi's link to the Unaoil affair is likely to create headlines in the UK, where he is well known as a major Tory party supporter – he and his wife, Narmina, have donated £150,000 ($280,000) since 2014 – as well as being the owner of exclusive London properties who flies between London and Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, in private jets.

Mr Marandi, Azerbaijan-born but London-based, is connected to Unaoil through his friendship with Unaoil's Azerbaijan super-agent, Mohammad Reza Raein.

 

 

http://www.smh.com.au/business/unaoil-scandal-and-the-panama-papers-20160409-go2jr7.html

[Dr.Sack]

The nice thing about the Internet is all you need is one person to hit copy paste send & everything is revealed.