Canadian National Charged With Foreign Bribery and Paying Kickbacks Under the Oil for Food Program.Summary: A Canadian citizen has been charged in an indictment unsealed yesterday for his alleged participation in an eight-year conspiracy to defraud the United Nations Oil for Food Program (OFFP OFFP Oil For Food Programme OFFP Operating Fund Financing Program (HUD) ) and to bribe Iraqi government officials in connection with the sale of a chemical additive used in the refining of leaded fuel, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division announced. Canadian National Charged With Foreign Bribery and Paying Kickbacks Under the Oil for Food Program A Canadian citizen has been charged in an indictment unsealed yesterday for his alleged participation in an eight-year conspiracy to defraud the United Nations Oil for Food Program (OFFP) and to bribe Iraqi government officials in connection with the sale of a chemical additive used in the refining of leaded fuel, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division announced. Ousama Naaman, 60, of Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (ä`b  thä`bē, zä–, dä–), Arab. Abu Zabi, sheikhdom (1995 pop. 928,360), c. , United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates, federation of sheikhdoms (2005 est. pop. 2,563,000), c.30,000 sq mi (77,700 sq km), SE Arabia, on the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. , was indicted INDICTED, practice. When a man is accused by a bill of indictment preferred by a grand jury, he is said to be indicted. on Aug. 7, 2008, in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia District of Columbia, federal district (2000 pop. 572,059, a 5.7% decrease in population since the 1990 census), 69 sq mi (179 sq km), on the east bank of the Potomac River, coextensive with the city of Washington, D.C. (the capital of the United States). .
Naaman is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and
to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Foreign Corrupt Practices ActAn amendment to the Securities Exchange Act created to sanction bribery of foreign officials by publicly held US companies. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA FCPA Foreign Corrupt Practices Act FCPA Fairfax County Park Authority (Virginia) FCPA Fujitsu Computer Products of America FCPA Fair Campaign Practices Act FCPA Fellow of CPA Australia FCPA Florida Concrete & Products Association ) and two counts of violating the FCPA. Naaman was arrested on July 30, 2009, in Frankfurt, Germany. The Department of Justice is seeking his extradition from Germany to the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . According to the indictment, from 2001 to 2003, acting on behalf of a publicly traded U.S. chemical company and its subsidiary, Naaman allegedly offered and paid 10 percent kickbacks to the then Iraqi government in exchange for five contracts under the OFFP. Naaman allegedly negotiated the contracts, including a 10 percent increase in the price to cover the kickback The seller's return of part of the purchase price of an item to a buyer or buyer's representative for the purpose of inducing a purchase or improperly influencing future purchases. . In exchange for handling the kickbacks, Naaman allegedly received two percent of the contract value, in addition to the two percent commission he was paid for securing the contracts. The U.S. company allegedly inflated its prices in contracts approved by the OFFP to cover the cost of the kickbacks. In addition, according to the indictment, in 2006 Naaman allegedly paid $150,000 in bribes on behalf of the U.S. company to Iraqi Ministry of Oil officials to ensure that a competing product manufactured by a different company failed a field test, keeping the competing product out of the Iraqi market. Naaman is alleged then to have provided the U.S. company with false invoices, on the basis of which the U.S. company reimbursed him for the bribes to the Iraqi officials. If convicted on all charges, Naaman faces a maximum prison sentence of 15 years. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Kathleen M Hamann of the Criminal Division's Fraud Section. The case is being investigated by the Washington Field Office of the FBI. Significant assistance was provided by the Criminal Division's Office of International Affairs, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Enforcement and the United Kingdom Serious Fraud Office's United Nations Oil for Food Investigations Unit. An indictment is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty at trial beyond a reasonable doubt. 2009 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com) 2009 Al Bawaba (Albawaba.com) Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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