Farid Bedjaoui Sold Confidentiality Of Sonatrach Transaction Procedures At Exorbitant Price

Italian Court of Milan stated in its justifications for the judgments that it announced last September in the case of Sonatrach-Eni-Saipem, that Farid Bedjaoui, who was the right arm of Chakib Khalil, had sold the secrets of Sonatrach tenders for a high price of 197 million Euros, representing the value of bribes, in favor of Saipem.

According to the Milan court justifications, Saipem began to receive the first invitations to participate in the tender, supported by the illegal relationship with Khalil, in exchange for the payments that were received by the company and headed by Farid Bedjaoui as a special secretary and the right arm of Chakib Khalil, who sold Sonatrach’s tender secrets in terms of granting deals, at a high price of 197 million euros.

Italian media quoted judges who supervised the case at the Milan court on Wednesday as justifying the sentences that the contracts, which were shown to have been made by bribing 3% of the total 8 billion euros, that were obtained in 2006, and was held between the former CEO of Saipem, Pietro Tali, and the former Algerian Energy Minister, Chakib Khalil.

The court’s document said there was no evidence of involvement of the former CEO of Eni, Paolo Scaroni, who is currently executive director of AC Milan, and Antonio Villa, the former director of ENI-North Africa.

Previously, the Court of Milan ruled in the case last September and Farid Bedjaoui was sentenced to 5 years and 5 months, while the ex-CEO and president of the club “AC Milan”, Paolo Scaroni ,was acquitted, and Saipem was fined with 400.000 euros and the confiscation of the estimated bribes with 197 million euros in favor of the General Tax Agency representing the Italian state.

The court also convicted Omar Habour and Samir Ouriad of the Algerian side, with four years and one month.