OPL 245 Scandal: Eni Allegedly Tried To Tamper With Witness In Nigeria

Officials from Eni sought to convince a witness, a former Eni manager, to withdraw some statements he made during investigations into a Nigerian corruption case involving the Italian oil group, a court heard on Wednesday.

Prosecutor Fabio De Pasquale made the comment in a trial hearing into the case, during a legal debate over a request by Eni lawyers to adjourn proceedings to give more time to consider evidence in a related obstruction of justice investigation.

“We have become aware that Eni, through its managers, would have tried to influence and would have approached the defendant (Vincenzo) Armanna to convince him to withdraw some of his statements,” De Pasquale told the court without elaborating.

Armanna is both a defendant and a prosecution witness in the corruption trial.

Eni has denied any wrongdoing in the trial, in which it is accused of buying a Nigerian offshore oilfield licence in the knowledge that most of the $1.3 billion purchase price would be siphoned off to agents and middlemen in corrupt payments.

Royal Dutch Shell, which jointly bought the offshore field with Eni, is also on trial for corruption over the deal and has also denied any wrongdoing.

Eni also denied any wrongdoing in relation to a separate investigation where prosecutors are looking into allegations that Eni sought to obstruct justice in the Nigeria case, Reuters reports.

Armanna, who led Eni’s project to acquire the OPL 245 field in 2011, has told investigators he was informed by a security official for the then Nigerian president that $50 million had been set aside for top Eni management under the deal.

Later on Wednesday, the Milan trial court denied Eni’s request for an adjournment, clearing the way for Armanna to take the stand. However, it ruled that for now he could only be asked about the graft case, not allegations of obstruction of justice.