Dan Etete, Minister of oil at the time of the transaction
Reuters/
A report by Reuters has indicated today that materials in a suitcase seized nearly three years ago by Swiss authorities might unlock the identities of the Nigerian recipients of the $1.1billion in corrupt payments by Shell and ENI over the purchase of OPL 245 from Malabu Oil.
A Geneva prosecutor is now reviewing the materials and would decide what could be shared with Italian authorities, where some trials had begun in the monumental bribery scandal.
The prosecutor received the green light after Switzerland’s top court, the Federal Tribunal, rejected an appeal by Nigerian defendant Emeka Obi to prevent his bag from being unsealed.
The Lausanne court’s November 8 ruling, published online, said that the confiscated material – including documents, an external hard drive, British and African passports, and USB keys – could have “potential pertinence” in the criminal investigation and the sealing could be lifted without violating Swiss law.
“The Geneva prosecutor now has access to all the material in conformity with the Federal Tribunal ruling,” it says in a reply to Reuters.
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