SO now we learn why Cheney's Halliburton company needs to overcharge the US taxpayer (i.e., you and me), because the company needs to bribe officials to get business, and pay penalties.
Halliburton is now under investigation in the US, France, Nigeria, and the United Kingdom, at the request of the US DoJ.
Cheney oil firm faces UK inquiry
US vice-president mired in claims of bribery and corruption against his former company in four countries
Saturday October 30, 2004, The Guardian
British authorities have opened a new front in the widening investigation into allegations of bribery at Halliburton, the American oil services business, while it was being run by the US vice-president, Dick Cheney.
The Guardian has learned that the Serious Fraud Office has joined the international effort at the request of the US Department of Justice in Washington. French and Nigerian officials are already involved in the inquiry.
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It emerged late on Thursday that the FBI had launched an inquiry into how Halliburton secured contracts in Iraq, so far worth almost $9bn (£4.9bn).
more below the fold ...
The Nigerian investigation centres on $180m in payments allegedly made by a consortium led by Halliburton to secure the contract to build a natural gas plant in Nigeria.
The cash was allegedly channelled through a US-owned oil engineering firm in London called MW Kellogg and was handled by a company executive based in Berkshire. The funds were said to have been paid into a Swiss bank by a British lawyer.
Mr Cheney ran Dallas-based Halliburton for five years before quitting to run for office in 2000. He banked $36m when he left and continues to receive deferred income from the company. There has been no suggestion that Mr Cheney had any personal knowledge of the Nigerian payments.
When Mr Kerry's running mate, John Edwards, referred to the Nigerian scandal during a televised debate earlier this month, Mr Cheney said there was "no substance" to the charges. But Halliburton admitted last month that it had found evidence that bribery was at least discussed. In June, the US company cut ties with a former senior executive, Jack Stanley, and said he had received as much as $5m in "improper personal benefits" related to the Nigerian scandal. The company has said it is cooperating with authorities.
A French judge has been inquiring into the alleged bribes for the past two years. He has been joined by a Nigerian par liamentary commission. The scandal has gathered pace in recent months as the justice department and the chief US financial watchdog, the Securities and Exchange Commission, launched investigations.
The French judge, Renaud Van Ruymbeke, has called for Halliburton's agent, London solicitor Jeffrey Tesler, to return to Paris next month for a second round of questioning. Mr Tesler has denied wrongdoing.
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Halliburton was secretly awarded a contract ahead of the Iraq invasion, then worth up to $7bn, to help repair the country's oil industry in the wake of war. Halliburton was handed the contract without bidding. It was also given an other contract on a no-bid basis to provide logistical backup to American troops.
The FBI investigation is based on claims by a senior army contracting official who claims she was frozen out of decisions when she questioned the Halliburton contracts.
Halliburton has repeatedly denied wrongdoing. "The old allegations have once again been recycled, this time one week before the election," a spokeswoman said.
The company has paid $7.5m to settle claims that it failed to disclose a crucial change in its accounting policy that allowed it to report higher profits and shore up its share price while Mr Cheney was in charge.
Hmmm... a novel way of spreading US values and influence.
Perhaps not one that US Law Enforcement officials agree with.
Anyway, the US DoJ has asked other countries to join the probe against Halliburton and Cheny, since many allegations originate from when Dickhead was in charge.
original story