TSKJ Slush Fund
An approximately $180M fund maintained by the TSKJ consortium, allegedly to bribe Nigerian officials to win contracts for the Bonny Island LNG project. In a Nov 5, 2004 SEC filing, TSKJ member Halliburton admitted that bribes "may have been paid" to Nigerian officials[1][2].
Fund was maintained as a Gibraltar-registered entity named Tri-Star Investments, which was controlled by UK solicitor Jeffrey Tesler, who was also a financial manager for members of the Nigerian Sani Abacha regime.
In 1994 TSKJ set up a Madeira-based shell corporation, LNG Services[3]. Funds were transfered to LNG Services by TSKJ for "support contracts". Then equal amounts were moved to Tri-Star, which disbursed the funds to secret bank accounts, one of which, a numbered Swiss account, was controlled by KBR chairman Albert 'Jack' Stanley.
The slush fund is currently being investigated by the US Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission, the UK Serious Fraud Office, the French juge d'instruction Renaud Van Ruymbeke, and a committee of the Nigerian parliament. Several principals, such as Tesler and Technip executive George Krammer, appear to be cooperating with the authorities.
