Italian prosecutors have asked a Milan Court for documents sourced from a United States bank, JPMorgan, to be filed as part of a corruption trial over the acquisition of an oilfield in Nigeria by Eni and Shell.
The long-running graft case revolves around the purchase of the Oil Prospecting Licence 245 in 2011 for about $1.3bn. Prosecutors allege that about $1.1bn of that was siphoned off to politicians and middlemen.
In 1998, OPL 245 was awarded by a former Petroleum Minister, Dan Etete, to Malabu Oil and Gas, which later sold it to Eni and Shell.
The deal saw the Nigerian government act as an intermediary between the oil majors and Malabu Oil and Gas, a company allegedly controlled by Etete.
At a public hearing on Wednesday, prosecutors asked the court to accept two emails sent to Italy by UK authorities, Reuters reported.
The international news agency said the emails originated from a separate London court case launched by the Nigerian government against JPMorgan Chase, claiming over $1.7bn for its role in the disputed oilfield deal.
The first is an email sent by a former Nigerian Attorney General, Mohammed Adoke Bello, to JPMorgan from the email address of a company owned by Aliyu Abubakar – a Nigerian oilman whom prosecutors allege paid $500m in cash as part of a bribe.
In this email, seen by Reuters, Adoke sent the bank copies of the resolution agreement regarding the oilfield acquisition.
The prosecutors said they considered it relevant to establish the relationship between Adoke and Abubakar.
Adoke was charged last year for allegedly receiving bribes to facilitate the deal, and he pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Abubakar’s trial will start in coming weeks in Milan. He denies any wrongdoing.
The second email, also seen by Reuters, is between two JPMorgan officials expressing doubts about transferring $1.1bn to two accounts at Nigerian banks.
Milan magistrates said at Wednesday’s hearing they considered the email significant as it shows there were doubts within the bank over the transfer, which a Swiss and a Lebanese lender had previously refused to carry out. The Milan court will decide on Feb. 3 whether to admit the two documents in the case.
The companies and defendants involved in the Milan case, including Eni’s current Chief Executive Officer, Claudio Descalzi, have all denied any wrongdoing.
Milan prosecutors have asked for jail sentences for all the defendants and fines for the two oil giants.
On Wednesday, lawyers for Eni and Shell asked for the companies to be acquitted.
