Eni’s CEO Claudio Descalzi, his predecessor Paolo Scaroni and the other defendants were all acquitted “because the fact does not exist”.
This concludes in the first instance the trial on the alleged maxi-tangent of one billion and 92 million dollars that Eni and Shell, for the accusation, would have paid to Nigerian politicians and public officials to acquire the exploration rights of Opl 245, a very rich block oil off the coast of the African country, in the Gulf of Guinea.
“Finally Claudio Descalzi has been restored to his professional reputation and to Eni its role as a great company”, comments the defender, the lawyer Paola Severino. In all, there were fifteen accused of international corruption. Among them are the companies and top managers, prominent intermediaries and the former oil minister of Nigeria, Dan Etete, who in 1998 had self-assigned the field. The sentence was pronounced after six hours in the council chamber, by the judges of the seventh criminal section, chaired by Marco Tremolada.
The deputy prosecutor Fabio De Pasquale and the prosecutor Sergio Spadaro left without commenting on the sentence, who before the summer had asked for heavy sentences for all the defendants: 8 years in prison for Descalzi (at the time number two of Eni), and for his predecessor Scaroni (now president of Milan), 10 years for Etete, 7 years and 4 months for Roberto Casula, manager of the six-legged dog in the sub-Saharan Africa area. In addition to the confiscation of 1 billion 92 million and 400 thousand dollars against all the defendants and a fine of 900 thousand euros each for the two companies.
Requests for punishment have always been defined as “devoid of any foundation”, and “in the absence of any evidence or concrete reference to the contents of the preliminary investigation”. from Eni which, in a note expressed all its satisfaction with the decision of the judges: «An acquittal which finally established that the company, the CEO Descalzi and the management involved in the proceedings have maintained an absolutely lawful and correct conduct. Eni has always maintained full confidence in the balanced conduct of the investigation ensured by the Court, and today wishes to thank – concludes the note – all the stakeholders who have believed in the correctness of the company’s work and its management, never failing to do so. trust, respecting their activities and reputation “.
Even Shell, through the words of his ad Ben van Beurden, expresses great satisfaction: «We have always maintained that the 2011 agreement was legitimate, aimed at resolving a ten-year legal dispute and restarting the development of the OPL 245 block. At the same time , the process was a difficult experience for us. Shell – underlines the CEO – is a company that operates with integrity and we strive hard every day to ensure that our actions not only follow the letter and spirit of the law, but also live up to the broadest expectations of the company in our comparisons “.
Paradoxically, of the initials investigated by the prosecutor, the only ones to have been condemned are however two of the intermediaries of the alleged corruption agreement: Emeka Obi and his partner Gianluca Di Nardo. Both had chosen to be judged with an abbreviated sentence and, in 2018, they were sentenced to 4 years in prison and the confiscation of 100 million. The appeal process will open for them next week.