Halliburton Ex-Official
Pleads Guilty in Bribe Case
In a wide-ranging foreign-corruption investigation, fired former Halliburton Co. executive Albert J. "Jack" Stanley pleaded guilty to orchestrating more than $180 million in bribes to senior Nigerian government officials. The bribes were used to win a contract to build a liquefied-natural-gas plant in Nigeria.
Under a plea agreement entered Wednesday in a Houston federal court, Mr. Stanley faces seven years in prison and a $10.8 million restitution payment. His lawyer, Lee Kaplan, said, "We're hopeful the government finds his cooperation merits" a reduction in his prison sentence.
The guilty plea exposes the corruption that sometimes goes hand in hand with enormous energy investments in Africa and other parts of the world. As energy companies search the world for oil and gas and related projects, they sometimes encounter foreign government officials whose approval is needed for investments but who seek bribes. Bribing such officials subjects companies and executives to possible prosecution under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Several of the bribes Mr. Stanley has said were paid occurred after that acquisition, during the time when Vice President Dick Cheney led Halliburton, and they continued after Mr. Cheney left.
Mr. Stanley also pleaded guilty to taking $10.8 million in kickbacks from an agent of the construction firms.
In the earlier focus on Halliburton over its supply work in Iraq, Democratic lawmakers accused Mr. Cheney of having helped steer work to Halliburton, and held hearings on the subject. The matter became an issue in the 2004 presidential election, during which Democratic candidate Sen. John Kerry accused the Bush administration of being soft on Halliburton. The Stanley case, especially if it balloons to include still-more-senior Halliburton officials, could supply fresh ammunition for Democrats to attack the Bush administration and the Republican Party as being overly cozy with Big Oil.
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Me...I can't even find a F-ing job and this guy gets $10.8 Million on one kick back alone?
I guess crime is the answer, my government and business leaders are doing a fine job leading by example.
Note: I tried to find Halliburton executive officers pictures but strangely enough they are hard to find online, I wonder why they are hiding?
Welcome to Detroit
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