A London court this week jailed a second former Unaoil manager for paying bribes to Iraqi officials to secure lucrative contracts following a four-year investigation by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office.

Stephen Whiteley, a 65-year-old UK citizen, received a three-year sentence a week after former colleague British-Lebanese manager Ziad Akle was slapped with five years in prison. The contract in question was a $55mn deal to build Iraq’s offshore single point moorings. The SFO says Unaoil paid a $500,000 bribe to secure the deal for Dutch firm SBM Offshore. Australia’s Leighton was also ensnared in similar accusations, contributing to a sizeable delay in Iraq’s offshore export infrastructure overhaul (MEES, 28 June 2019). (CONTINUED - 174 WORDS)