The UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has charged two former Petrofac executives with paying bribes in the United Arab Emirates.
Between 2012 and 2018, two officials were involved in offering and paying bribes worth more than $30 million. The payments influenced the award of contracts worth around $3.3 billion.
Marwan Chedid and George Salibi worked in various roles at Petrofac and were based in the UAE, the SFO said.
The contracts were related to oil facilities in the area, including a contract for the infrastructure and design of works on the Upper Zakum field. Petrofac won work on Abu Dhabi’s Upper Zakum in 2013.
Chedid and Salibi are due to appear in Westminster Magistrates’ Court on February 19, 2024 to hear the charges.
SFO director Nick Ephgrave noted that bribery distorted “financial markets, erodes trust in institutions and can undermine the global reputation of UK business. We are committed to holding both companies and executives to account when we believe they have committed serious economic crimes.”
Reuters has reported the SFO had charged Chedid with three counts of bribery while Salibi is charged with two counts.
Salibi was COO for engineering and construction.
Chedid joined the board as an executive director in 2012 and was CEO for Engineering, Construction, Operations & Maintenance (ECOM).
Petrofac has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Adnoc suspended Petrofac from competing for new contracts in 2021. In March 2022, Petrofac was allowed back in.
Updated on February 18.