$6 Million Bribes Helped to Win Iraq Oil Deals, Prosecutors Say
- Unaoil, SBM executives are on trial for corruption in London
- SFO says Unaoil engaged in ‘maneuvering and manipulation’
Ziad Akle arrives at Westminster Magestrates Court in London on Dec. 7, 2017.
Photographer: Daniel Leal-Olivias/AFP via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Maneuvering, manipulation and $6 million in bribes helped oil companies win contracts with Iraq in the aftermath of Saddam Hussein’s reign, U.K. prosecutors said on the first day of opening arguments in a London corruption trial.
Two former Unaoil executives and a sales manager at client company Single Buoy Moorings Inc. are charged with conspiracy to make corrupt payments to secure multi-million dollar business contracts in Iraq between 2005 and 2011.