An Italian judge on Thursday, sentenced two defendants to jail in the first ruling on one of the oil industry’s biggest graft scandals after several years of inquiry into the purchase of an offshore oilfield in Nigeria by Shell and Eni.
The two oil majors are embroiled in a long-running corruption case revolving around the purchase in 2011 of one of Africa’s biggest oilfields – Oil Prospecting Licence 245 – for about $1.3bn.
Nigerian Emeka Obi and Italian Gianluca Di Nardo were found guilty of international corruption and each given four-year jail sentences.
Milan prosecutors alleged that bribes totalling around $1.1bn were paid to win the licence to explore the oilfield which, because of disputes, has never entered into production.
The main trial, which besides Eni and Shell, also involves Eni Chief Executive Officer, Claudio Descalzi, and four ex-Shell managers, including a former Shell Foundation Chairman, Malcolm Brinded, is expected to drag on for months.
But Obi and Di Nardo, accused of being middlemen and taking illegal kickbacks, had asked for a separate fast-track trial which, under Italian law, allows sentences to be cut by a third.
Thursday’s ruling will not tie the court’s hand in the main trial.
The next hearing of the main trial involving Eni, Shell and 13 people is set for September 26.
Barnaby Pace, anti-corruption campaigner at Global Witness, was quoted as saying, “This judgment will send shivers down the corporate spines of the oil industry.”
In an emailed statement, a spokeswoman for Shell was quoted as saying that neither Obi nor Di Nardo worked on behalf of the company, adding that it was waiting to see the fast-track judge’s written decision.
