French Judge Contemplates Cheney Indictment
According to an article in Le Figaro, (translated article here courtesy of Ocnus.net), French courts for the first time have opened an investigation with regard to the bribery of a foreign public official. The case involves a contract by a consortium which includes the American company Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR), a Halliburton subsidiary, and a French company, Technip, to supply a gas complex to Nigeria. Paris investigating magistrate Judge Renaud Van Ruymbeke has been conducting investigations since October into allegations that $180m were paid in secret commissions during the late 1990s up to 2002 from funds established by the consortium in Madeira, and is considering an eventual indictment Vice President Cheney, in his capacity as former CEO of Halliburton. Cheney was Halliburton's chief executive between 1995 and 2000.
In a letter to the attorney-general's department, magistrate Reynaud van Ruymbeke ruled out directly prosecuting Cheney on a charge of bribing foreign officials, Le Figaro said, but the official did not exclude the possibility of prosecution on the grounds of complicity in misuse of corporate assets.
The story has been underreported in the American Press. Here is an article in The Nation.
In a letter to the attorney-general's department, magistrate Reynaud van Ruymbeke ruled out directly prosecuting Cheney on a charge of bribing foreign officials, Le Figaro said, but the official did not exclude the possibility of prosecution on the grounds of complicity in misuse of corporate assets.
The story has been underreported in the American Press. Here is an article in The Nation.
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