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1998 attempt to take over the Azerbaijan state oil company SOCAR
Azerbaijan is the 21st largest country, by oil reserves and coincidentally also 21st by oil production. It is next to Iran, and a key stop for troops on the way to Afghanistan.
The case looks a lot like this: the US assisted private corporate and individual entrepeneurs in their attempt to take over SOCAR, whether before or after the fact. Not only was Azerbaijan a strategic state, but the government was one of the only ones in the region that would accede to US policy;[1] as the government itself was implicated by the facts that Frederic Bourke was to reveal, US political interests required them to tie up the loose ends. As usual, moral and legal interests were considered secondary. The conspirators posed no threat and were all let off; Frederic Bourke would not go quietly, and got a jail sentence. High-ranking former CIA and MI6 officials have testified that key witnesses for his prosecution were U.S. intelligence assets.
Bourke was convicted of conspiring with a Czech national, Wikipedia:Viktor Kožený, also known as "Pirate of Prague" [2] to pay bribes to the ex-president and government officials of Azerbaijan. The bribery involved a 1998 scheme to induce the sale and purchase of the Azeri state oil company.[3] Bourke did not personally bribe the government officials and lost his $8 million investment in a hedge fund managed by the Czech national. The prosecution claimed Bourke knew personally that monies invested in the fund were used for bribing Azeri officials with cash and a secret 2/3 interest in the oil company.[3] They also claimed that Bourke “consciously avoided†learning about the bribes by not asking questions about them.[4]
On July 9, 2009, Frederic Bourke was found guilty by a jury and convicted of conspiracy and bribery under the U.S. Wikipedia:Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and Wikipedia:Travel Act in the Wikipedia:U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.[5] After the jury verdict, District Judge Wikipedia:Shira Scheindlin assessed a $1 million fine against Bourke and sentenced him to a jail term of one year and a day, followed by three years of probation.[6]
Links[edit]
- ↑ Another U.S. Whistleblower Behind Bars? Investor Jailed After Exposing Corrupt Azerbaijani Oil Deal -Democracy Now!
- ↑ "Pirate of Prague". Wikipedia:Bloomberg L.P.. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aYo5XHTxYDT0. Retrieved 2012-05-20.
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- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Glovin, David. Executive guilty of conspiracy in foreign bribery case. Wikipedia:Bloomberg News. URL accessed on 2010-02-08.
- ↑ Bourke Convicted of Bribery in Kozeny’s Azerbaijan Oil Deal, David Glovin - July 11, 2009
- ↑ Johnson, Carrie (2010-02-08). "U.S. sends a message by stepping up crackdown on foreign business bribes". Wikipedia:The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/07/AR2010020702506.html. Retrieved 2010-02-08. </li>
- ↑ Vardi, Nathan. Founder of Dooney & Bourke gets jail term of one year. Wikipedia:Forbes. URL accessed on 2010-02-08.
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