Norwegian police said on Monday they had charged an oil company and two executives in Norway on suspicion of paying millions of dollars in bribes to close family members of Congo Republic President
Norwegian police said on Monday they had charged an oil company and two executives in Norway on suspicion of paying millions of dollars in bribes to close family members of Congo Republic President Denis Sassou Nguesso.
Norwegian police said the investigation was launched after Monaco police sought legal assistance related to a suspicious bank transaction, and that substantial assistance also came from other countries, including France and the United States.
"The bribes... are linked to the President of Congo and his close family members, and the value of the bribes is particularly high," the National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime said in a statement.
The Congolese government and the president's office did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
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The accused company, Hemla Africa Holding AS, is a fully owned indirect subsidiary of Oslo-listed oil group PetroNor and controls a 20% stake in the offshore PNGF Sud licence via Hemla E&P Congo.
PetroNor said in a statement it categorically contested the indictment and welcomed the chance to have the case examined in court. The company's share price was down 10.5% as of 1516 GMT.
MGI International, which was controlled
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