Brazilian oil company Petrobras said Friday it had received the third and final installment from TechnipFMC-affiliated companies as part of a leniency agreement struck in 2019 to resolve anti-corruption investigations in Brazil.
Petrobras said Friday it had already received the first two installments of the agreement, in July 2019 and June 2020, totaling R$ 578.3 million (~$117,85 million).
The final installment by the Technip companies Technip Brasil and Flexibras amounts to R$271.1 million ($55,25 million).
"With these amounts, Petrobras exceeds the mark of R$ 6 billion [$1,22 billion] in funds recovered through collaboration, leniency and repatriation agreements. These reimbursements arise from Petrobras' status as a victim in the crimes investigated in Operation Car Wash," Petrobras said.
Operation Car Wash has been described as Brazil's largest corruption scandal, in which government and business officials have been accused of taking bribes from services companies in exchange for hefty Petrobras contracts.
Back in 2019, when the leniency agreement was reached, the U.S. Department of Justice said that TechnipFMC, a global provider of oil and gas services, and its subsidiary Technip USA, Inc. (Technip USA), had agreed to pay a combined total criminal fine of more than $296 million to resolve foreign bribery charges with authorities in the United States and Brazil.
TechnipFMC is the result of a 2017 merger between two predecessor companies, Technip and FMC Technologies.
Per DOJ documents from 2019, the charges arose out of two independent bribery schemes: a scheme by Technip to pay bribes to Brazilian officials and a scheme by FMC to pay bribes to officials in Iraq. Technip USA and Technip’s former consultant pleaded guilty in 2019 in connection with the resolution. In 2010, Technip entered into a $240 million resolution with the Department over bribes paid in Nigeria.
According to admissions and court documents, as shared by the DOJ in 2019, starting in at least 2003 and continuing until at least 2013, Technip conspired with others, including Singapore-based Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd. (KOM) and their former consultant, to violate the FCPA by making more than $69 million in corrupt payments and “commission payments” to the consultant, companies associated with the consultant and others, who passed along portions of these payments as bribes to Brazilian government officials who were employees at the Brazilian state-owned oil company, Petrobras, in order to secure improper business advantages and obtaining and retaining business with Petrobras for Technip, Technip USA, and Joint Venture. Also, Technip made more than $6 million in corrupt payments to the Workers’ Party in Brazil and Workers’ party officials in furtherance of the bribery scheme.
"[Petrobras] reaffirms its commitment to adopt the appropriate measures, in search of adequate compensation for the resulting losses that were caused. Petrobras is co-plaintiff with the Federal Prosecutor’s Office and the Federal Government in 21 ongoing administrative improbity actions, in addition to being an assistant prosecutor in 79 criminal actions related to illegal acts investigated by Operation Car Wash," Petrobras said Friday.