Halliburton to Pay Nigeria $35M Settlement

In a settlement for bribery allegations related to the construction and expansion of its Bonny Island natural-gas liquefaction facility, Halliburton Co. agreed to pay $35 million to the Nigerian government Tue., reports the Wall Street Journal.

Former subsidiary KBR Inc. had a 25 percent stake in the facility.

The deal comes two weeks after the African country indicted nine people and businesses, including Halliburton and its former chief executive and U.S. vice president Dick Cheney for alleged bribery. A spokesman for Nigeria's anti-graft agency told WSJ that the charges were dropped Fri., after parties reached a settlement.

According to the deal, all lawsuits and charges against Halliburton, KBR and the nine people, which include Cheney, were dropped, and the Nigerian government agreed not to file further criminal or civil charges.

Halliburton didn't address the details behind the charges in a press release.

Cheney's lawyer, Terrence O'Donnell, told WSJ that the charges against the former vice president were baseless.

The $35 million settlement includes $2.5 million to cover the Nigerian government's legal fees and to help its effort to recover funds frozen in a Swiss bank account from a former joint venture.