Issue link: https://digital.shearman.com/i/1389983
22 ITALIAN COURT DISMISSES CHARGES AGAINST ENI AND SHELL RELATED TO NIGERIAN BRIBERY CLAIMS On March 17, 2021, a court in Italy acquitted Eni, an Italian energy company, Claudio Descalzi, Eni's Chief Executive, and Royal Dutch Shell, a British-Dutch oil company, of corruption charges related to Eni and Shell's acquisition of the OPL 245 offshore oilfield in Nigeria. In 2011, Malabu Oil and Gas, owned by Dan Etete, a former oil minister in Nigeria, gave OPL 245 back to the Nigerian government while Shell and Eni simultaneously paid the government $1.3 billion to resolve a dispute about OPL 245's ownership. According to prosecutors, approximately $1.1 billion of the $1.3 billion was actually paid to politicians and intermediaries, including Etete. Prosecutors in Italy requested that $1.1 billion be confiscated from Eni, Shell, and Descalzi, and for Descalzi to serve jail time. The defendants maintained that they were innocent. Ultimately, the Italian court agreed with the defendants, holding the oil companies had no control over how the money would be spent once it was paid to the government's accounts. The court's decision has stirred some controversy with many observers claiming this ruling sets a precedent that will allow companies to avoid liability by structuring transactions to make bribe payments indirectly. This blow fell particularly hard on the Italian prosecutors who, in addition to losing this long-running, well publicised case, now face an investigation into their handling of the case. The Italian court released its written judgment in June, and it alleges inter alia that the prosecutors had withheld relevant exculpatory evidence—namely that they had not shared a video filmed by Eni's former external counsel. Italian authorities are now reviewing those allegations. Although this phase of the case has ended with the dismissal of corruption charges by the Italian court, the fallout from the alleged corruption scandal may not be over for the defendants. Not only has the Nigerian government stated that it would consider appealing the ruling once its counsel had reviewed the judgment, but Eni and Shell may be facing similar charges in other jurisdictions. Of note, in March 2019, prosecutors in the Netherlands stated that they were preparing criminal charges against Shell, authorities in Nigeria have launched an investigation, and there is an ongoing trial against Shell and Eni's Nigerian subsidiaries in Nigeria.