----- Forwarded Message -----
From: SyedAslam <Syed.Aslam3@gmail.com>
To: Khobor <khabor@yahoogroups.com>; notun Bangladesh <notun_bangladesh@yahoogroups.com>; chottala@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, April 30, 2012 12:54 AM
Subject: [chottala.com] BNP Energy Minister A.K.M. Mosharraf Hossain bribed by Canadian Corporation Niko Resources in 2005
From: SyedAslam <Syed.Aslam3@gmail.com>
To: Khobor <khabor@yahoogroups.com>; notun Bangladesh <notun_bangladesh@yahoogroups.com>; chottala@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, April 30, 2012 12:54 AM
Subject: [chottala.com] BNP Energy Minister A.K.M. Mosharraf Hossain bribed by Canadian Corporation Niko Resources in 2005
Niko bribed Bangladeshi minister in 2005:
Canadian Corporation Niko Resources Bribed Bangladesh Energy Minister A.K.M. Mosharraf Hossain
Bribes made abroad by Niko Resources Ltd. have cast a "dark stain" on Calgary's reputation as the energy capital of Canada, a judge said Friday afternoon, while issuing a $9.5-million negotiated penalty against the company.
"It tarnishes the reputation of Alberta and of Canada. It is an embarrassment to all Canadians," Justice Scott Brooker said after Niko pleaded guilty in Court of Queen's Bench to paying off a Bangladeshi minister with the use of a new black Toyota Land Cruiser, and a free trip to Calgary and New York in 2005.
After months of back-and forth with the Crown -negotiations that went into the evening Thursday -Niko agreed to plead guilty to one charge under Canada's Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act and pay a fine of $8.26 million, plus a 15 per cent victim surcharge.
It's a Canadian court's heftiest punishment for corporate bribes of foreign officials.
Niko was also placed on a court-supervised probation for three years, during which time it must make strides in improving corporate culture.
The company's indictment this week came after a six-year RCMP probe involving Canadian police in Calgary and law enforcement agencies in Switzerland, Japan, the United Kingdom and Barbados -an investigation that cost $879,000.
"What happened was wrong. We acknowledge this. We accept responsibility, and we appreciate the seriousness of the actions," CEO Ed Sampson, who was not in court, said in a statement.
Niko lawyer Kristine Robidoux said the firm is not only paying a financial price for "mistakes" made in 2005.
"There's also the significant embarrassment that this has caused Niko, the reputational damage this will surely cause employees and shareholders, so, certainly, this is being taken very seriously by the company," Robidoux said.
The multimillion-dollar penalty to be paid by Niko in the next 30 days is intended to dissuade other companies from doting on government officials to influence them.
In 2009, anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International called Canada a "laggard" in enforcing an international anti-bribery convention devised in 1997 under the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
"I'm really happy with the fine, $9.5 million, I think, it will set a deterrent," said Greg Shields, officer in charge of Calgary's commercial crime section of the RCMP.
Crown prosecutor Steven Johnston said there is "no evidence" Niko was successful in benefiting from its bribes, which were paid to Bangladesh junior energy minister A.K.M. Mosharraf Hossain following explosions at a drilling site in 2005.
An agreed statement of fact shows that at the time, Hossain was to determine what compensation should be paid to villagers.
A new Toyota Land Cruiser worth $190,000, purchased by Niko, was delivered to Hossain's house, according to the statement.
The official and his family also travelled to Calgary for the 2005 Gas and Oil Expo event and to New York and on to Chicago to visit family at the expense of Niko, court heard.
Hossain resigned after being called to the prime minister's office when the transactions were revealed in Bangladesh media, a few days after returning from the trip.
But the controversy still drew in diplomat David Sproule, Canada's Head of Mission in Bangladesh at the time, who met to discuss allegations of bribes with Qasim Sharif, the president of Niko's Bangladesh subsidiary.
The statement says that according to Sproule, Sharif dismissed the "gift" as a "cost of doing business" in Bangladesh.
When the vehicle story broke in Canada, a director on Niko's board asked Sampson about the scandal and the executive said he had no knowledge, according to the statement, which notes another executive, William Hornaday, had the same response when later asked by the director.
Sampson, who took the helm of Niko after company founder Robert Ohlson died in 2004, was second among top-earning executives in Calgary in the year ended March 31, with earnings of $16.5 million.
In 2009, Niko announced the RCMP was investigating allegations that Niko or one of its subsidiaries "may have made improper payments" to government officials in Bangladesh.
Niko, which has significant gas production from Bangladesh, has curtailed spending in the country because of the dispute over its 2005 well blowout that resulted in the government withholding $27 million in payments -an issue still in legal limbo.
The statement of fact read in court notes the well blowout triggered a legal proceeding against Niko by a citizens group in Bangladesh, and ongoing litigation remains between Niko's Bangladesh subsidiary, the government of Bangladesh and stateowned resource firms Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration & Production Co. Ltd. and Petrobangla.
Niko stock traded as low as $61.55 on the Toronto Stock Exchange Friday before recovering to close at $62.85, off $2.07. The firm's shares have fallen about 40 per cent this year.
"It tarnishes the reputation of Alberta and of Canada. It is an embarrassment to all Canadians," Justice Scott Brooker said after Niko pleaded guilty in Court of Queen's Bench to paying off a Bangladeshi minister with the use of a new black Toyota Land Cruiser, and a free trip to Calgary and New York in 2005.
After months of back-and forth with the Crown -negotiations that went into the evening Thursday -Niko agreed to plead guilty to one charge under Canada's Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act and pay a fine of $8.26 million, plus a 15 per cent victim surcharge.
It's a Canadian court's heftiest punishment for corporate bribes of foreign officials.
Niko was also placed on a court-supervised probation for three years, during which time it must make strides in improving corporate culture.
The company's indictment this week came after a six-year RCMP probe involving Canadian police in Calgary and law enforcement agencies in Switzerland, Japan, the United Kingdom and Barbados -an investigation that cost $879,000.
"What happened was wrong. We acknowledge this. We accept responsibility, and we appreciate the seriousness of the actions," CEO Ed Sampson, who was not in court, said in a statement.
Niko lawyer Kristine Robidoux said the firm is not only paying a financial price for "mistakes" made in 2005.
"There's also the significant embarrassment that this has caused Niko, the reputational damage this will surely cause employees and shareholders, so, certainly, this is being taken very seriously by the company," Robidoux said.
The multimillion-dollar penalty to be paid by Niko in the next 30 days is intended to dissuade other companies from doting on government officials to influence them.
In 2009, anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International called Canada a "laggard" in enforcing an international anti-bribery convention devised in 1997 under the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
"I'm really happy with the fine, $9.5 million, I think, it will set a deterrent," said Greg Shields, officer in charge of Calgary's commercial crime section of the RCMP.
Crown prosecutor Steven Johnston said there is "no evidence" Niko was successful in benefiting from its bribes, which were paid to Bangladesh junior energy minister A.K.M. Mosharraf Hossain following explosions at a drilling site in 2005.
An agreed statement of fact shows that at the time, Hossain was to determine what compensation should be paid to villagers.
A new Toyota Land Cruiser worth $190,000, purchased by Niko, was delivered to Hossain's house, according to the statement.
The official and his family also travelled to Calgary for the 2005 Gas and Oil Expo event and to New York and on to Chicago to visit family at the expense of Niko, court heard.
Hossain resigned after being called to the prime minister's office when the transactions were revealed in Bangladesh media, a few days after returning from the trip.
But the controversy still drew in diplomat David Sproule, Canada's Head of Mission in Bangladesh at the time, who met to discuss allegations of bribes with Qasim Sharif, the president of Niko's Bangladesh subsidiary.
The statement says that according to Sproule, Sharif dismissed the "gift" as a "cost of doing business" in Bangladesh.
When the vehicle story broke in Canada, a director on Niko's board asked Sampson about the scandal and the executive said he had no knowledge, according to the statement, which notes another executive, William Hornaday, had the same response when later asked by the director.
Sampson, who took the helm of Niko after company founder Robert Ohlson died in 2004, was second among top-earning executives in Calgary in the year ended March 31, with earnings of $16.5 million.
In 2009, Niko announced the RCMP was investigating allegations that Niko or one of its subsidiaries "may have made improper payments" to government officials in Bangladesh.
Niko, which has significant gas production from Bangladesh, has curtailed spending in the country because of the dispute over its 2005 well blowout that resulted in the government withholding $27 million in payments -an issue still in legal limbo.
The statement of fact read in court notes the well blowout triggered a legal proceeding against Niko by a citizens group in Bangladesh, and ongoing litigation remains between Niko's Bangladesh subsidiary, the government of Bangladesh and stateowned resource firms Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration & Production Co. Ltd. and Petrobangla.
Niko stock traded as low as $61.55 on the Toronto Stock Exchange Friday before recovering to close at $62.85, off $2.07. The firm's shares have fallen about 40 per cent this year.
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