Algeria’s Public Treasury Established As Civil Party In Saipem-Sonatrach Bribery Case

The Italian energy company “Saipem” said that the Attorney General in the Algerian Judicial Council informed her of the establishment of the public treasury as a civil party in the corruption case in which it is pursued in Algeria, and whose judgment was appealed in February 2016, in a step that expresses an Algerian desire to recover the corruption funds of the Italian company with Sonatrach at the time of the nefarious ruling gang in Algeria.

The report of the financial outcome of the Italian firm “Saipem”, for the year 2019, of which “Echorouk” possesses a copy, contained in 380 pages, said that the Court of Appeal of the Algerian Judicial Council informed the Italian company on October 7, 2019 through a private correspondence, informing her of the cancellation of the ruling issued by the Algerian Judicial Council On February 2016, adding that a new investigation has been opened into the case.

The report indicated that the Court of Appeal of the Algerian Judicial Council asked Saipem a number of documents and data related to the Basic Law, and information related to its branch in Algeria, “Saipem Contracting Algérie”.

The report indicated that the company Saipem Algeria and the company “Sanam Brugetti” (affiliated to Saipem), were summoned by the investigating judge of the Supreme Court in Algeria on October 16 and 21 October 2019, within the framework of the preliminary investigation into a case that dates back to the year 2008, and related to granting of the completion of the Arzew LNG complex, in Oran province known as “GNL 3”.

Saipem Algeria and “Sanam Pruggeti” were summoned by the investigating judge of the Supreme Court on November 18, 2019, and he requested other documents pertaining to the contract of the “GNL 3” project in Arzew, which was awarded to the two companies in 2008 by Sonatrach.

On the same day, November 18th, the representative of Saipem Contracting Algérie was heard, during which documents, data and information were presented, as requested by the Attorney General, giving the December 4th deadline to submit all of them.

The report clarifies that the Attorney General of the Algerian Court requested the summons of a representative of the company “Saipem” from Italy, and the public prosecutor also informed the companies Saipem Algeria and “Sanam Brugetti” on November 20, 2019, that the Algerian public treasury was established as a civil party in this case, which is in the preliminary investigation stage.

These details show a clear difference between the efforts of the Algerian authorities at the time of the nefarious ruling gang, with regard to recovering the looted funds and corruption funds, as the public treasury was then not established as a civil party in the case to recover these funds, and the goal now seems clear: the request by Algeria ought to be heeded by the Italian company in the event that the latter is convicted by the Algerian judiciary in the case in which it appealed the ruling, after it was issued in February 2016, at the height of the erstwhile gang’s dominance of the levers of the ruling apparatus in Algeria.