Oil and Gas

It is the biggest bribe process so far: The Brazilian construction group Odebrecht and a subsidiary pay at least $ 3.5 billion to the USA, Switzerland and Brazil.

Detectives from the special police headquarters accused Iranian businessman Sharam Abdullah Zadeh of influencing a witness. He is tried for an extensive tax evasion, but he is prosecuted at liberty, thanks to a record bail 150 million crowns. His lawyer said that according to the accusation he had participate in influencing a witness, which Zadeh itself regardes as untrustworthy.In the case of tax evasion Zadeh and his 14 companions face up to 13 years imprisonment. According to the accusation they should cause damage 2.5 billion in the process of fuel importation.

The court for tax evasion was delayed because of a prosecution of the expert in OKD affair Because of arrest of businessman Martin Uher and his companion Pavlína Nováčková in 2006, the police started to uncover one of the biggest cases regarding tax evasion for sold propellant. Finally after ten years of investigating, public prosecutor managed to bring five persons to justice. Unfortunately the court denied taking an expert’s opinion, regarding accountancy of interested companies, into consideration. The main author Rudolf Doucha is prosecuting because of a distorted opinion on his basis the Czech Republic should lose 5.7 billion Czech crowns, when the state sold their own stake in OKD. Doucha is suspended, so he can’t confirm his expert’s opinion. By force of these circumstances, the president of the senate decided to make a new expert’s analysis, said a press agent of the Pilsen district court. But this should be a problem because it has been lost some important accountancy documents, according to press Právo. Three businessmen, one accountant and one layer face several charges of fraud and legalization revenues from criminal activity. According to the expert analysis, already mentioned Uher and Nováčková were the main actors of the fraud and through companies Solitor, Radeost and OilMaster imported since 2014 to 2016 to Czech Republic hundreds of tank trucks with petrol and did not pay the full excise tax. Accused businessmen did not manipulate with tax return and they officially declare their duty to pay the debts. They said that they wanted to pay, but their companies do not have money, so they can’t afford it. To make this impression, they show fake transactions. In the papers, it looks like they do not have money, but in fact, they have big profits. Prosecuted traders used the opportunity of the introduction of free trade within the European Union in May 2004, when customs controls disappeared from the borders.

Minister of Economic development of Russia Aleksej Uliakajv has been detained during an operation carried by FSB upon allegations of having asked and received a bribe amounting to 2 million US dollars. The bribe is allegedly related to a transaction of oil company „Rosneft“ – bribe was allegedly given for permission of acquisition of government controlled oil company „Bashneft“.

Russia's economy minister, Alexei Ulyukayev, has been detained on suspicion of taking a bribe to approve an oil deal; he's the most senior official to be arrested in the Putin era. "This is about Extortion of a bribe from Rosneft representatives accompanied by threats," Svetlana Petrenko, a spokesperson for the Investigative Committee, told RIA Novosti news agency. "Ulyukayev was caught red-handed as he received a bribe," she said.

Tax evasion: Authorities have revealed a million-strong fraud with diesel fuel. The gang had sold diesel without taxing it.

Nigeria demands 11.4 billion of various oil companies, including Chevron, Eni and Shell, reportedly because of fraud with waybills. Therewith suspicions about the existence of a mega fraud in commodity trading by 'trade misinvoicing' are becoming stronger. The big players are suspected of smuggling 57 million barrels of oil, about 9.3 billion liters, out of Nigeria.

New evidence shows oil, gas; mining firms use loopholes and avoid tax depriving communities of much-needed resource income

Last month, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) passed a rule that will require resource extraction issuers to disclose the payments that they make to governments for the commercial development of oil, gas and minerals resources. This is a significant step forward also for Indonesia as several companies listed in the US operate in the country and the data of the payments that these companies make to the Indonesian government will now become available. Similar laws already exist in the EU, Canada and Norway. The number of oil, gas and mining companies in the US is huge and, on top of that, they are classified as big extractive companies as they operate around the globe with significant capital.