One Mr Peter Bosworth, age 55 has been identified as a recipient of millions of pounds from a $1.3 billion Nigerian oil deal at the centre of one of the industry’s biggest corruption scandals. Nigeria has filed a High Court claim against the two oil companies.
The British oil executive and the trading firm he ran, Arcadia Petroleum, have been named in multiple court documents as among the ultimate recipients of funds from the allegedly corrupt 2011 deal in which Royal Dutch Shell and Eni, the Italian company, acquired a prized offshore oil block, The Times and the investigative website Finance Uncovered revealed.
The deal for the OPL 245 oil licence is the subject of criminal proceedings in Milan. Two middlemen have been convicted in one case and there is a corruption trial against Shell and Eni, in which both deny wrongdoing. The deal is also the subject of civil action in the UK, where Nigeria has filed a High Court claim against the two oil companies.
Mr Bosworth and his company, Arcadia Petroleum have been named in all three cases as having together received $16 million originating from the deal.
Arcadia Petroleum and Mr Bosworth are not parties in any of the litigation and both deny any wrongdoing.
Nigeria’s claim in London, filed this month, seeks to recover money paid in bribes and seeks damages over the “fraudulent and corrupt scheme”.
Source: The Times
