Sonatrach/ENI/Saipem bribery scandal… Chakib Khelil neither a witness nor an accused

The Italian Court of Milan was slated to hold a preliminary hearing today to examine the ins and out of bribery and corruption international scandal involving Sonatrach and the Italian energy firms of ENI and Saipem.

The case will shed light on the ramifications of a mega corruption ring with on focus bribes amounting to 200 million euros, and with on the dock 6 Italian officials and two Algerians namely Farid  Bedjaoui and Samir Ouriad, as well as two senior officials of Italy’s ENI company and its subsidiary Saipem.

However, the striking point is that the former Algerian energy and mines minister Chakib Khalil, who is the subject of an international arrest warrant issued by Algerian justice, wasn’t summoned to the court hearing neither as a witness nor as a defendant in the case.

The course of the investigation into this major corruption scandal  was launched in February 2011 and lasted for more than 4 years and spanned four continents including Europe, Africa, Asia and America before being finally dealt with by the Court of Milan.

Italian lawyer Valeria Aka, from the renowned Pizano sollicitors’ firm defending Farid Bedjaoui in the same case, told “Echorouk” that this court hearing would be held behind closed doors and not open to the public, noting that it will focus on technical issues and formalities linked to the affair.

She added that this court hearing would take place in the presence of the accused or their legal representatives namely the “lawyers”, during which they will be asked questions by the presiding judge and receive clear-cut answers from the defendants or their lawyers.

It should be noted that Algeria recently vowed to take tough action against any officials at state energy firm Sonatrach found to have accepted bribes from Italian company Eni.

Eni’s chief executive Paolo Scaroni is already under investigation in Italy over alleged bribes paid to win contracts in Algeria for Saipem SpA, a subsidiary of Eni.

That inquiry is into suspected bribes given to Sonatrach, where several top executives including the president were forced to resign two years ago due to the scandal.

In this connection, Algerian Energy Minister Youcef Yousfi vowed to be “inflexible” against those found guilty of corruption within Sonatrach, one of the world’s largest energy companies.

“We fight corruption with more determination. Firm instructions have been given to prosecute anyone who acted against Sonatrach’s interests. We will be inflexible in this matter,” Yousfi told a conference when asked about the probe against Scaroni.

“The judiciary is currently investigating… we will take necessary measures when it finishes its work,” he said.
Italian media reports allege that Scaroni met in Paris with an intermediary from a company based in Hong Kong who handled bribes paid to Algerian officials in order to win contracts for Saipem.

They said that corrupt payments amounted to 200 million euros ($ 268 million) and that a total of eight people were under investigation.

The probe by prosecutors in Milan is an offshoot of a broader inquiry in Algeria over contracts worth hundreds of millions of euros.

The biggest contract in the inquiry was to build the GK3 gas pipeline and was worth $ 580 million (443 million euros). Saipem won the contract in northeast Algeria in 2009, the reports said.
Saipem has defended itself arguing its business activities were compliant with the law.