LONDON (dpa-AFX) - The U.K.'s Serious Fraud Office said that a former employee of Petrofac has admitted additional charges under the UK Bribery rule. The charges relate to three contract awards in the UAE in 2013 and 2014.
Petrofac confirmed that no charges have been brought against any Group company or any other officers or employees.
A small number of former Petrofac employees are alleged to have acted together with the individual concerned, although none have been charged. No current Board member of Petrofac is alleged to have been involved, Petrofac said in a statement.
Separately SFO said Thursday that David Lufkin, a British national and the former Global Head of Sales at Petrofac, has pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates' Court to three counts of bribery.
The offenses relate to corrupt offers and payments made between 2012 and 2018 to influence the award of contracts to Petrofac in the United Arab Emirates worth approximately $3.3 billion.
Specifically, Lufkin has pleaded guilty to his role in offering and making corrupt payments to agents to influence the award of an engineering, procurement and construction contract to Petrofac in 2013 on the Upper Zakum UZ750 Field Development Project, and a front-end engineering design contract awarded to Petrofac in 2014 on the Bab Integrated Facilities Project, each located in Abu Dhabi.
Total payments of approximately $30 million were made, or were due to be made, by Petrofac to those agents in connection with these contracts.
The charges are in addition to eleven charges of bribery already brought by the SFO, to which Lufkin pleaded guilty in February 2019.
Those charges related to corrupt offers to influence the award of contracts to Petrofac in Iraq worth in excess of $730 million and in Saudi Arabia worth in excess of $3.5 billion.
Lufkin's case has been committed for sentence to Southwark Crown Court on 11 February 2021.
The SFO said that its investigation into the activities of Petrofac, its officers, employees and agents for suspected bribery, corruption and money laundering continues.
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