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Canadian Oil and Gas Co. NIKO Enters $9.5M Guilty Plea for Bribery

The plea follows a six-year probe by the international anti-corruption unit of Canada's RCMP, during which NIKO, which has a subsidiary in Bangladesh, was charged with violating Canada's Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act by providing "improper benefits" to "induce that official to influence the acts or decisions of the foreign state," according to a statement from the company . Alexandra Wrage : It's interesting because this isn't your stereotypical bribery case. This didn't involve cash, it involved extravagant gifts, offering a trip to the U.S., to New York, to Canada; offering free transportation. The traditional view of corruption or bribery is: I give someone a briefcase of cash, or I wire it to their off-shore account, and they give me business. But here the idea was: I give them travel and they smooth my path for business on the ground. When you hear people talk about places like Bangladesh, there seems to be a tone of indifference or neutrality to such conduct. It's an attitude of, 'That's how things get done.' The challenge regarding oil and gas companies is that they must go where the resources are, and those resources are not in, say, Singapore or Denmark. They're in places like Nigeria, where enforcement is tougher. AW: For Canada it's the beginning of a strong message to Canadian companies that their own government will be taking a more aggressive role on anti-bribery enforcement. For the broader community, the message overall has been that it's not just the [U.S.] enforcing anymore. The Germans are prosecuting, the British are prosecuting, most OECD companies are at the early stages of developing their own track record on this. And Canada is joining that community. AW: Typically in-house counsel are in the best position to find out where the weak spots are in a compliance system, to find out where the risks are and how best to address them. Unfortunately a lot of companies still aren't putting the staff and resources where they need to be, but in the companies that are getting this right, in-house counsel are critical. They're the early warning system. We urge companies to make sure their lawyers get out into the field so they can see and hear what's happening. You could have a determined, smart manager who understands challenges in the field and builds in mechanism so that compliance will be followed, or you could have a manager that doesn't really care, that doesn't enforce the system.

Canadian Oil and Gas Co. NIKO Enters $9.5M ... - Law News Online

For NIKO Resources Ltd. , one official’s travel through Canada and the U.S. is set to cost $9.5 million.

On Friday, the Calgary-based oil and gas company pleaded guilty to one count of bribing a Bangladeshi energy minister in 2005 and agreed to pay $9.5 million in fines .

The plea follows a six-year probe by the international anti-corruption unit of Canada’s RCMP, during which NIKO, which has a subsidiary in Bangladesh, was charged with violating Canada’s Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act by providing “improper benefits” to “induce that official to influence the acts or decisions of the foreign state,” according to a statement from the company .

The company admitted to providing Mosharraf Hossain, former Bangladeshi State Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources, with a vehicle, travel, and accommodation during a trip from Bangladesh to the GO EXPO oil and gas exposition in Calgary. The company also paid for the minister’s non-business travel to New York to visit family.

The statement further said that, in addition to the fines, NIKO faces a court probation order and will be under three-year supervision to “ensure that audits are completed to examine Niko’s compliance with the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act.”

According to Alexandra Wrage, president of the anti-bribery non-profit TRACE International Inc., Friday’s decision marks the RCMP’s first major win in its battle against foreign bribery. CorpCounsel.com reporter Hannah D’Apice spoke with her to discuss the implications of the case for the future of compliance.

CC: Can you give some brief background for the case? Alexandra Wrage : It’s interesting because this isn’t your stereotypical bribery case. This didn’t involve cash, it involved extravagant gifts, offering a trip to the U.S., to New York, to Canada; offering free transportation. The traditional view of corruption or bribery is: I give someone a briefcase of cash, or I wire it to their off-shore account, and they give me business. But here the idea was: I give them travel and they smooth my path for business on the ground.

When you hear people talk about places like Bangladesh, there seems to be a tone of indifference or neutrality to such conduct. It’s an attitude of, ‘That’s how things get done.’ The challenge regarding oil and gas companies is that they must go where the resources are, and those resources are not in, say, Singapore or Denmark. They’re in places like Nigeria, where enforcement is tougher.

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