Dan Etete

Dan Etete (born 26 January 1945) is a former Nigerian Minister of Petroleum and convicted money-launderer.[1][2]

Dan Etete
Federal Minister of Petroleum
In office
1995–1998
Personal details
Born (1945-01-25) 25 January 1945

Biography

Etete, was found guilty of money laundering by a French court in 2007.[3][4] He was also found to have used illicit funds to buy a speedboat and a chateau.[3]

Corruption

In 2011, as a former Minister of Petroleum under military dictator General Sani Abacha, Dan Etete facilitated the transfer of payment of $1.1 billion to Malabu Oil and Gas. Malabu was set up in 1998 by Etete using a false identity so as to award himself a lucrative oil block, OPL 245,[5] for which he paid only $2 million of the $20 million legally required by the state.

At the time of Goodluck Jonathan's government, Etete helped facilitate the transfer of payment from Shell and Eni to Malabu Oil and Gas. The Economist reports that only $800 million out of the $1.1 billion meant for Malabu Oil and Gas was ever remitted by the Nigerian government. The Nigerian Attorney General, Mohammed Bello Adoke, who signed the documents involved in facilitating the payments, denied the rest was shared by public officials.[6] The transfer to convicted felon, Etete, only came to public light when a Russian lawyer that claimed to have helped Malabu negotiate a deal with the Jonathan's government sued in New York for a $66 million unpaid commission.[7]

Both Shell and Eni, as of September 2014, are under investigation for corruption by the UK and Italy authorities for the incidence.[8][9]

In 2017, e-mails obtained by anti-corruption charities Global Witness and Finance Uncovered apparently revealed that Shell's executives were negotiating directly with Etete for a year before the oil deal that corruptly enriched Etete was finalised.[10]

References

  1. King, Ben (2017-04-11). "Shell admits dealing with money launderer". BBC. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
  2. Ben, Chapman (2018-09-23). "Two men convicted of corruption over Shell and Eni Nigerian oil deal". The Independent. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
  3. Padmore, Russell (2018-11-26). "Nigeria loses $6bn from 'corrupt' oil deal". BBC. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
  4. Parodi, Emilio (2018-12-17). "Eni, Shell knew of 'sharks' in Nigeria graft case: judge". Reuters. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
  5. "How Ex-Nigerian Petroleum Minister, Dan Etete, Laundered Millions Of Dollars". Sahara Reporters. 16 June 2013.
  6. "Safe sex in Nigeria". The Economists. 15 June 2013.
  7. "Nigeria oil deal puts focus on energy sector". Financial Times. 20 May 2012.
  8. "UK police probing Shell, ENI Nigerian oil block deal". Reuters. 24 July 2014.
  9. "Eni chief under investigation". Energy News Premium. 12 September 2014.
  10. Shell and the money-launderer: Damning emails of Nigerian deal, Evening Standard (UK), 10 April 2017.


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