Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 3
By: Khalid Kazimov - Trend:
Iranian MP Ahmad Tavakoli said Feb. 3 that the Norwegian oil company Statoil paid Mehdi Hashemi , the son of a former Iranian president $5.2 million in 2002 and 2003 for his influence in helping the company make a contract with Iran on the country's South Pars oil and gas field, Fars news agency reported.
The Iranian Lawmaker added that Mehdi Hashemi was at the time Managing Director of the Fuel Consumption Optimization Organization.
He added that the Norwegian company had also agreed to pay to the Iranian party $1 million each year for ten years, making the total payment $15.2 million.
"After one year of tense negotiations between the two sides, it was agreed as a money laundering act to make a fake contract between Hoortan Co. headed by Abbas Yazdan Panah and Statoil."
Yazdan Panah was an old friend of Hashemi and the contract was made in order to give the deal an appearance of providing consultation to Statoil, Tavakoli said.
He also noted that following the contract, the Iranian National Oil Company and Statoil signed a contract without carrying out routines such as forming a joint Iranian-Norwegian company or holding tenders.
He added that one year after that, a Norwegian newspaper revealed the story to the public, causing scandal for the Norwegian officials involved in the deal.
Not only were the officials tried and fined for their misconduct in their homeland, the Norwegian company met reactions by the US as well for it holding shares in that country.
On June 29, 2004 Statoil was found guilty of corruption by the Norwegian courts and ordered to pay NOK 20 million in fines. The Director for international operations Richard John Hubbard was also ordered to pay NOK 200,000 in fines for his involvement in the case.
On October 13, 2006 Statoil reached a settlement with US authorities for its involvement in the case and was ordered by a US court to pay $ 21 million in fines.
Tavakoli said that the Norwegian company has confirmed that Hashemi has been definitely involved in the case and that the case has been fully disclosed to the Iranian Intelligence Ministry.