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News Release from: Chartered Institute of Building [CIOB] | Subject: Export Credit Guarantee Department
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 09 December 2004
'Wrongful use' charge over export
credits
The BBC's investigative radio programme File on 4 has accused Britain 's Export Credit Guarantee Department of using taxpayers' money to fund corrupt deals overseas.
The charge was made after ECGD gave a British contracting company a guarantee relating to work on a huge LNG plant at Bonny Island in the Niger Delta There was no suspicion of corruption at the due diligence stage, but later it was alleged that the same firm had been instrumental in setting up a $180 million slush fund to finance negotiations over construction contracts to exploit the region's vast gas reserves
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 12 Mar 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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The Bonny Island plant is now well advanced.
When completed it will produce more than 20 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas annually for shipment around the world.
Due to a French component of the construction consortium, an investigating court in Paris has been looking into the slush fund allegations in association with the U.K.
's Serious Fraud Office.
The French have apparently been reluctant to share their findings with the Department of Trade and Industry, deeply concerned about the situation owing to the ECGD involvement and its opposition to British firms becoming involved in corruption scandals.
The contentious issue of the Bonny Island contracts has been handed over to Nigeria 's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for investigation, but the prospects of obtaining the evidence and then a successful prosecution have been thrown into doubt by a frank assessment of its powers and resources by the commission's chairman.
Meanwhile construction at the plant continues to move towards successful conclusion of the $10 billion project sponsored by the Shell, Total and Agip oil companies.
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