Italian energy firm “Eni” secured a deal worth $ 900 million dollars in just 5 days!

Executive Director of the Italian energy Company “Eni” said that the mediator, fugitive Farid Bedjaoui, was duly present at the premises of the Algerian Energy Ministry during a visit to Algeria by the Director of Eni North Africa Antonio Villa, and Bedjaoui was then presented as the private secretary of the former Algerian energy Minister Chakib Khelil.

In an audiotape obtained by “Echorouk”, Claudio Descalzi, who testified before the Milan Court in the Saipem-Sonatrach bribery case, affirmed that the Algerian side had presented Farid Bedjaoui as the special secretary of Energy Minister Chakib Khelil at the Algerian Ministry of Energy, despite the fact that the latter had no official or institutional position.
According to the spokesman, the presentation was during an official visit by Antonio Villa, Director of Eni North Africa to Algeria at the headquarters of the Algerian Ministry of Energy at an official meeting.
According to the spokesman, Farid Bedjaoui was the envoy of former energy Minister Chakib Khelil, and judicial sources said that the three men also met later on in a luxury hotel in Vienna, Austria for the purpose of thrashing out energy-related deals in March 2008 with hefty personal financial spin-offs under cover.
 In response to the Prosecutor’s question, Descalzi said he did not know whether Chakib Khelil himself had attended the meeting despite the Prosecutor’s insistence on him. He pointed out that Khelil may not have attended the meeting and assigned a person to represent namely middleman Farid Bedjaoui.
The suspected middleman, Farid Bedjaoui, has also been prosecuted. The cashier for Algeria’s former Energy minister is thought to have had a hand in laundering the bribes through various off-shore companies, 12 of which were created by Mossack Fonseca, according to an investigation carried out by ‘L’Espresso’
As the witness testified before the Milan Court, former chief executive Paolo Scaroni said the “Eni” energy complex had quickly acquired a Canadian coal-based Farist Calgary Petrolmaz stake as part of a $ 923 million worth deal in just five days in the wake of these regular shadowy meeting between the two sides.
Prosecutors allege that Saipem paid intermediaries 197 million euros to bag contracts worth 8 billion Euros with Algeria’s energy group Sonatrach.
Under Italian law, companies are responsible for the actions of their managers and can be fined if found guilty.