Canadian Corporation Niko Resources Bribed Bangladesh Energy Minister AKM Mosharraf Hossain
Bribes made abroad by Niko Resources Ltd. have cast a “dark stain” on Calgary’s reputation as the energy capital of Canada, a judge said Friday afternoon, while issuing a $9.5-million negotiated penalty against the company. “It tarnishes the reputation of Alberta and of Canada. It is an embarrassment to all Canadians,” Justice Scott Brooker said after Niko pleaded guilty in Court of Queen’s Bench to paying off a Bangladeshi minister with the use of a new black Toyota Land Cruiser, and a free trip to Calgary and New York in 2005. After months of back-and forth with the Crown -negotiations that went into the evening Thursday -Niko agreed to plead guilty to one charge under Canada’s Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act and pay a fine of $8.26 million, plus a 15 per cent victim surcharge. It’s a Canadian court’s heftiest punishment for corporate bribes of foreign officials. Niko was also placed on a court-supervised probation for three years, during which time it must make strides in improving corporate culture. The company’s indictment this week came after a six-year RCMP probe involving Canadian police in Calgary and law enforcement agencies in Switzerland, Japan, the United Kingdom and Barbados -an investigation that cost $879000. “What happened was wrong. We acknowledge this. We accept responsibility, and we appreciate the seriousness of the actions,” CEO Ed Sampson, who was not in court, said in a statement. Niko lawyer Kristine Robidoux said the firm is not only …
