Bribery Fines Come to $917 Million

HOUSTON (CN) - Technip, a Paris-based engineering and construction firm, will pay $338 million to settle federal charges that it bribed Nigerian officials to win construction contracts worth more than $6 billion, the SEC said. The fines bring sanctions to a total of $917 million against a four-company joint venture - including Halliburton/KBR, which also settled.

Technip will pay $98 million to settle the SEC charges and $240 million to settle a federal criminal complaint, the SEC said.

"Bribery was such an accepted practice that the joint venture had a euphemistically-named 'Cultural Committee' where bribes were openly discussed, approved and memorialized," the SEC enforcement director said in a statement.

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