Ex-Petrofac Exec Pleads Guilty to Bribery Offenses

January 15, 2021

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Former senior Petrofac Ltd executive David Lufkin pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday to three further bribery offenses in relation to oil deals in United Arab Emirates (UAE), Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said in a statement.

These charges are in addition to 11 charges of bribery already brought by the SFO, to which Lufkin pleaded guilty in February 2019.

The SFO said that the offenses related to corrupt offers and payments made to agents by Lufkin between 2012 and 2018 to influence the award of contracts to Petrofac in the United Arab Emirates worth approximately $3.3 billion.

"Total payments of approximately $30 million were made, or were due to be made, by Petrofac to those agents in connection with these contracts," the SFO said.

Petrofac did not immediately respond when contacted by Reuters for comment on Thursday.

Lufkin, a former global head of sales for the oil services firm, pleaded guilty in February 2019 to 11 bribery charges related to corrupt attempts to influence the award of contracts to Petrofac in Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

The case has been committed for sentence to Southwark Crown Court on 11 February 2021, SFO added. 

(Reporting by Aishwarya Nair in Bengaluru Editing by Chris Reese and Alexandra Hudson)