Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/688389
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 5 JUNE 2016 11 JURGEN BALZAN EDWARD Keniwenimo Etete, the son of a former Nigerian minister ac- cused of corruption and money laun- dering, set up an offshore company in the British Virgin Islands through a Maltese intermediary, Chetcuti Cauchi. The Panama Papers revealed Edward Keniwenimo Etete as the shareholder of Century Energy Port- folio International Ltd which was in- corporated in August 2011. In the same year, Dutch oil giant Shell in partnership with Italian oil company Eni purchased a massive Nigerian offshore block - with as much as 9 billion barrels of oil— enough to keep all of Africa supplied for seven years – for just $1.3 billion (€1.06 billion). The two oil companies are under investigation by Dutch and Italian authorities over the controversial deal. The lucrative block was bought from a company, Malabu Oil and Gas, which was awarded ownership of block OPL245 in 1998 when Dan Etete was minister of petroleum un- der military dictator General Sani Abacha. Global Witness, the anti-corrup- tion watchdog, has alleged that the ultimate beneficiary of the transac- tion was Etete himself. It is widely believed that Etate him- self set up the company just days be- fore it was awarded the block. Allegedly, Malabu was set up by Etete using a false identity so as to award himself the oil block for which he only paid $2 million of the $20 million legally required by the state. Later, Etete admitted that he had himself used an alias to open accounts in the past. However, Etete has de- nied any wrongdoing and claimed that he was mere- ly a consultant to Malabu. Shell and Eni purchased the oil block following lengthy legal wran- gling which saw Malabu sue the new Nigerian government after the 1998 deal was cancelled and the oil block rights were awarded to Shell. In 2006, the Nigerian government re- instated Malabu as the block's owner and the firm hired Ednan Agaev, a former Soviet diplomat, to find other investors. Shell and Eni paid $1.3 billion to the Nigerian government for the block and once Malabu had signed away its rights, the government clipped off its $210 million signature bonus and transferred just under $1.1 billion to Malabu. In July 2013, a London high court ordered Etate to pay $110.5 million to a middleman who helped broker the controversial oil block contract. In the court case brought by Emeka Obi against Malabu for unpaid fees relating to his help in brokering the deal, the court concluded that "from its incorporation and at all mate- rial times ... Etete had a substantial beneficial interest in Malabu." Malabu's original shareholders had been Abacha's son, the wife of Has- san Lawal, a former Nigerian High Commissioner to the UK and Etete himself, but the company secretary Rasky Gbinigie told the London high court he had lost all the documents showing who owned it now. In a 2012 investiga- tion into Malabu by Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) the son of the former dictator Mohammed Abacha complained that although he had been a founding sharehold- er he was then illegally cut out. In the five years Abacha was in power, the general dished out oil blocks to political al- lies and is suspected of having en- riched himself to the tune of about $4 billion before he died. Of the $1.1 billion transferred to Malabu, $800 million was paid in two tranches into the company's accounts. This was then transferred to five Nigerian firms that appear to be shell compa- nies, including a company owned by Etate. The former oil minister has claimed that he received $250 million in total for his role in the deal. In 2007 Etete was found guilty of money-laundering by a French court and sentenced to three years impris- onment with a €300,000 fine. His conviction was upheld in 2009 but five years later Etete was pardoned. The trial centred on bribes he had allegedly demanded from foreign in- vestors while serving as oil minister between 1995 and 1998. Among other things, Etete used the money to buy a French mansion and about €1 million-worth of Art Deco furniture, according to French court documents. News DON'T JUST VISIT, LIVE IT Hello Tomorrow *Terms and conditions apply. Offer valid for tickets booked and purchased until 15 June 2016 and for outbound travel between 19 May 2016 and 31 March 2017. Additional restrictions apply. Fares are per person and are inclusive of all travel taxes. For more information or to book visit emirates.com/mt. COUNTDOWN Start the to summer Travel the world with our special fares from € 588. Book by 15 June and enjoy our special fares. DESTINATION ECONOMY* Dubai € 588 Delhi € 680 Bangkok € 704 Tokyo Narita € 744 Johannesburg € 774 Male € 788 Singapore € 788 Hong Kong € 809 Manila € 881 Sydney € 1,318 Dalligate: Kessler fights immunity removal MATTHEW VELLA IN a saga that refuses to die down, the EU's anti-fraud chief has launched a legal challenge to the European Commission's decision to lift his immunity from prosecution in connection with a Belgian police investigation on the Dalligate affair. Giovanni Kessler, director-general of the EU anti-fraud office (OLAF) filed the complaint in the General Court of the EU, saying the removal of his protection from prosecution was a threat to the agency's inde- pendence, which is guaranteed in EU law. Kessler said the EC's decision in March – the first time immunity had ever been lifted for an OLAF official – put his "independence, and that of OLAF, at risk." The EC's decision to lift Kessler's immunity allows Belgian police to investigate allegations that Kessler listened in on a telephone conversa- tion without permission during the agency's investigation of the Dalli- gate scandal, in violation of Belgian law. Kessler was tasked to investigate claims by Swedish Match, a Swedish company producing snus tobacco, that Maltese national Silvio Zammit had solicited a €50-€60 million bribe on behalf of health commissioner John Dalli to lift an EU retail ban on snus. Dalli left in October 2012 with- out having been allowed to read the OLAF report that prompted EC president José Barroso to request his resignation. In 2015, Dalli lost an ap- peal for unfair dismissal, in a decision by the European Court of Justice that confirmed he had resigned. The Belgian investigation, accord- ing to documents seen by Brussels political newspaper Politico, focuses on allegations that Kessler listened in to a conversation by Estoc secre- tary-general Inge Delfosse while she contacted Silvio Zammit on a speak- er-phone. The call was not used in OLAF's final Dalligate report. But if proven that Kessler did listen in, he could face a prison sentence of up to two years and a fine under Belgian law. Belgian authorities can still con- tinue their investigation while the court case is being considered. But if EU judges rule in favour of Kes- sler his immunity from prosecution would be restored. The former commissioner, John Dalli, received news of OLAF's legal challenge by dismissing the action as a "game" being played out in Brus- sels. "I wouldn't be surprised that the Commission, because of a weak de- fence, loses the case and then says it was the court that prevented it from lifting immunity [for Kessler]. "The Commission lifted Kessler's immunity partially after a full year's negotiation with the Belgian police to dictate on what the police can in- vestigate Kessler. Is this not political interference in the course of justice?" "Can the Commission explain why it is harbouring a criminal? Can it ex- plain how my human right to defend myself against Kessler's fraud has been safeguarded?" Son of controversial Nigerian minister used Maltese intermediary to set up BVI company Edward Keniwenimo Etete Dan Etete