Former Eni CEO Paolo Scaroni to stand trial in Milan in “Saipem-Sonatrach” bribery case

A senior judge in Milan has indicted former Eni CEO Paolo Scaroni, the companies Eni and Saipem, and seven other defendants including Eni’s former North Africa chief Antonio Vella and former Saipem chief Pietro Varone for international corruption, according to Italian legal sources. The trial started on Monday December 5 in Milan.

The case relates to €198mn bribes allegedly paid by Saipem, then controlled by Eni, to secure contracts worth some €8bn in Algeria at the expense of Sonatrach in 2008. 

In October 2015, Scaroni, Vella and Eni were acquitted by a different senior judge in Milan, but last February its verdict was set aside by a higher court, and the case assigned to a new Milan judge.

Eni said July 27 that “in relation to court proceedings for the alleged bribery case relating to Saipem’s activities in Algeria, Eni acknowledges that the new judge for the preliminary hearing in charge of the case [Manuela Scudieri] decided the commitment for trial for Eni. Eni continues to deny any illegal conduct”.

It should be noted that Paolo Scaroni was Eni CEO from 2005 to 2014.

The long-running case revolves around allegations Saipem paid intermediaries around 198 million Euros ($218 million) to bag contracts worth 8 billion Euros with Algeria’s Sonatrach hydrocarbons company.

Furthermore, the Italian prosecutor also stated that bribes and kickbacks are suspected to have also gone to the former Algerian Energy minister, Chakib Khelil, worth 41 million Euros, in the case of the Italian energy firm “Eni” acquiring a preferential stake in lucrative energy-related contracts in southern Algeria.

A decision by a judge last year that Eni and Scaroni should not be sent to trial was overturned by Italy’s top appeals court in February.

When Paolo Scaroni was CEO, Eni controlled 43 percent of Saipem.

Under Italian law, companies are responsible for the actions of their managers and can be fined if found guilty.