HOUSTON (CN) - An Italian construction firm and its former Dutch subsidiary will pay $325 million to settle civil and criminal complaints that it bribed Nigerian officials with briefcases full of cash to win construction contracts. ENI, of Italy, and Snamprogetti Netherlands paid more than $180 in bribes to get contracts to build liquefied natural gas plants in Nigeria, the SEC said.
ENI and Snamprogetti will pay $125 million to settle the SEC charges, and Snamprogetti will pay another $240 million to settle the U.S. Department of Justice's criminal complaint.
"This elaborate bribery scheme featured sham intermediaries, Swiss bank accounts and carloads of cash as everyone involved made a concerted effort to cover their tracks," SEC enforcement director Robert Khuzami said in a statement.
Last week Technip, KBR, and KBR's former corporate parent Halliburton agreed to pay $917 million to similar accusations of bribing officials for oil and gas contracts in Nigeria.
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