Files Open New Window on $182-Million Halliburton Bribery Scandal in Nigeria

Files Open New Window on $182-Million
Halliburton Bribery Scandal in Nigeria
By The Event Chronicle on February 12, 2015

In 2010 Nigeria indicted former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, who was CEO of Halliburton before he was elected, only to later clear him when Halliburton worked out a $35 million settlement.

By The Event Chronicle on February 12, 2015 · Africa(ICIJ) British lawyer facilitated bribes through secret Swiss HSBC accounts in his name and names of family members; revelations may place Nigerian government under pressure “There is no day when I do not regret my weakness of character,” said a contrite British lawyer in a Houston courtroom. “I allowed myself to accept standards of behavior in a business culture which can never be justified. I accepted the system of corruption that existed in Nigeria. I turned a blind eye to what was happening, and I am guilty of the offenses charged.”
The lawyer, Jeffrey Tesler, was speaking at the end of his 2012 sentencing hearing after pleading guilty to U.S. corruption charges for his role in what became known as the Halliburton Bribery Scandal. A network of secretive banks and offshore tax havens was used to funnel $182 million in bribes to Nigerian officials in exchange for $6 billion in engineering and construction work for an international consortium of companies that included a then Halliburton subsidiary. In 2010 Nigeria indicted former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, who was CEO of Halliburton before he was elected, only to later clear him when Halliburton worked out a $35 million settlement. 

British lawyer Jeffrey Tesler. Photo: Getty / AFP

Leaked records from HSBC, a huge global bank based in London, reveal new details about the bank’s role as a conduit for the bribes — and new details about how Tesler operated. The files, obtained by the French newspaper Le Monde and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, show ties between Tesler and high-ranking Nigerians not previously named publicly in connection with the scandal, raising the possibility of renewed questions about Nigeria’s handling of the affair.

Nigeria LNG, Bonny Island. Photo: Chike Roland ORAEKWUGHA / FlickrThe Halliburton Bribery Scandal dates to 1994 when the Nigerian government launched ambitious plans to build the Bonny Island Natural Liquefied Gas Project. 
Tesler was then, in his own words, “a simple lawyer” from North London. He grew from advising U.K.-based Nigerians on property deals to relishing his relationships with successive Nigerian military and civilian governments.
Tesler began planning the bribe payments in 1994 and transferred small amounts of money through Switzerland in July 1996. But by 2003, his role had escalated.
In one brazen episode in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, Tesler directed the drop-off of a travel bag stuffed with $1 million in $100 bills in the foyer of a luxury hotel where the per-night cost of a suite can exceed the nation’s average annual income of $3,000. It was one of at least 20 money transfers that Tesler made or directed. The cash was destined for Nigeria’s ruling party via the state-owned oil and gas company, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), according to an official Nigerian report.
Months later, in April 2003, the governing party scored an overwhelming victory in an election marred by vote rigging, fraud and violence that killed at least 100 people.
Switzerland’s famous bank secrecy laws encouraged Tesler to use the country as base for moving bribe money. And HSBC Private Bank (Suisse), with offices near luxury hotels in Geneva and Zurich, was his preferred bank. When U.S. authorities seized 12 of Tesler’s Swiss accounts in 2013, five were with HSBC — more than any other bank.
The files obtained by Le Monde and ICIJ show that nine people, including members of the Tesler family and Nigerian nationals, held a variety of roles with accounts  at HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) between 1990 and 2003 — months before the completion of the gas plant. Nine of the 12 accounts instructed HSBC to keep all correspondence under lock and key in a bank safe…
Read More → Source

Tesler began planning the bribe payments in 1994 and transferred small amounts of money through Switzerland in July 1996. But by 2003, his role had escalated.
In one brazen episode in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, Tesler directed the drop-off of a travel bag stuffed with $1 million in $100 bills in the foyer of a luxury hotel where the per-night cost of a suite can exceed the nation’s average annual income of $3,000. It was one of at least 20 money transfers that Tesler made or directed. The cash was destined for Nigeria’s ruling party via the state-owned oil and gas company, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), according to an official Nigerian report.
Months later, in April 2003, the governing party scored an overwhelming victory in an election marred by vote rigging, fraud and violence that killed at least 100 people.
Switzerland’s famous bank secrecy laws encouraged Tesler to use the country as base for moving bribe money. And HSBC Private Bank (Suisse), with offices near luxury hotels in Geneva and Zurich, was his preferred bank. When U.S. authorities seized 12 of Tesler’s Swiss accounts in 2013, five were with HSBC — more than any other bank.
The files obtained by Le Monde and ICIJ show that nine people, including members of the Tesler family and Nigerian nationals, held a variety of roles with accounts  at HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) between 1990 and 2003 — months before the completion of the gas plant. Nine of the 12 accounts instructed HSBC to keep all correspondence under lock and key in a bank safe…
Read More → Source: IC