Four Britons arraigned for bribing Lagos, Rivers officials

EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde
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Four former Swift Technical Energy Solutions Ltd. employees have been charged with conspiring to bribe Nigerian officials to lower the taxes their workers paid in the country.

Three men and one woman, all British nationals, were charged this morning at a London criminal court following a two-year probe of the company, which is a Nigerian subsidiary of the Swift Group companies, the United Kingdom  Serious Fraud Office said in an e-mailed statement on Monday.

The defendants – a former chief financial officer, tax manager, financial controller and area director for Nigeria – allegedly paid a total of 180,000 pounds ($292,000) in bribes in 2008 and 2009 to agents of the Rivers State Board of Internal Revenue and the Lagos State Board of Internal Revenue, according to prosecutors.

The bribes were paid to avoid, reduce or delay paying taxes on behalf of the oil- and gas-industry workers whom Swift sent to Nigeria, the SFO said.

According to Bloomberg.com, the case was transferred to a higher criminal court for a hearing on February 22 and the defendants were released on bail.

“The company itself is not under investigation and has fully supported the inquiry,” Swift spokesman Andrew Honnor said.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Lateef Ibirogba, on Monday night said the information could not be immediately verified.

He  promised to get in touch with our correspondent on Tuesday (today).

Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, however, explained that she was not aware of any case of bribery involving the State Board of Internal Revenue.

Semenitari said the defendants should go to jail if found guilty, describing tax evasion in the United Kingdom as a serious offence.

“This couldn’t have happened during our time. If it actually happened, then they (defendants) should be jailed. If they gave bribe, they should be punished. Tax evasion is a serious offence in Britain,” she said.