Italian prosecutors have asked the court to sentence some Eni and Shell present and former executives for allegedly aiding the companies to illegally buy a Nigerian oilfield, Malabu, in 2011 for $1.3 billion.
Some of the former executives listed by the prosecutors include Eni Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Claudio Descalzi and Shell’s former head of upstream, Malcolm Brinded.
The prosecutors also demanded that the Milan court slam a fine of $1.04 million each on the companies for their involvement and that they were aware that most of the money they spent to buy a Nigerian oilfield nine years ago would go to politicians and officials and not into the government coffers.
Aside from that, the prosecutors also sought the court permission to confiscate a total of $1.092 billion from all the defendants in the case, the equivalent of the bribes alleged to have been paid by the companies.
In the appeal, prosecutors were asking for eight years jail term for Descalzi and seven years and four months for Brinded.
In one of the oil industry’s biggest suspected scandals, Italian prosecutors alleged that Eni and Shell acquired a Nigerian oilfield in 2011 knowing most of the $1.3 billion purchase price would go to politicians and middlemen in bribes.
