It's taken quite a while but the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has now begun probing allegations of bribes paid by a US company to a judge of the Customs,Excise and Gold (Control) Appellate Tribunal (CEGAT). Officials of the company,Houston-based Pride International,one of the worlds largest offshore drilling firms,are alleged to have paid bribes to the tune of $500,000 for obtaining a favourable order from CEGAT way back in June 2003. CEGATs ruling,according to indictments served on the company by the US Securities Exchange Commission in 2010,stated that the estimated gain to the company from securing a favourable decision from the Indian tribunal was at least $10 million. While the indictment against Pride International and its French subsidiary,Pride Forasol (which dealt with the Indian region) was widely publicised and,in 2010,the US companies agreed to pay penalties of over $156 million for bribing government officials in India,Venezuela and Mexico,Indian agencies have only now begun looking into the charges. This follows Pride Internationals network being taken up as a case study at last weeks Interpol conference in Paris,which was also attended by an Indian delegation comprising senior CBI and CVC officials. CBI sources said that a preliminary investigation into the veracity of allegations against officials of Pride Forasol and the CEGAT judge has been initiated. The US indictment,which charged Pride International and its subsidiaries with violating provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) had alleged that officials of the companies agreed to pay $500,000 into bank accounts in Dubai in the name of third party entities with the intent that it would be passed on to an Indian CEGAT judge to secure a favourable judicial decision for Pride India relating to a litigation matter pending before the official involving the payment of customs duties and penalties owed for a rig,the Pride Pennsylvania. The indictment also noted how,to conceal the bribe,the finance manager,with knowledge of the scheme to bribe the Indian CEGAT judge,sent an email to the assistant controller authorising the booking of the bribe payments by Pride Internationals subsidiary,Interdrill,as regular fee in a newly created miscellaneous fees account. In truth some or all of these payments were intended to be bribes paid to the Indian CEGAT judge for the purpose of securing a favourable judicial decision. The Indian Express has learnt that following the CEGATs order in favour of Pride,the Tribunals order led to litigation,in the Mumbai High Court and the Supreme Court. These rulings give more details of the dispute: that Pride was engaged on behalf of the Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) as contractor and was carrying out drilling operations on its behalf in Indian territorial waters. The dispute arose since the company stated that imported goods such as stores,spares and other consumables required for use on the Oil Rig,Pride Pennsylvania,cannot directly land on the rig and had to be routed via the Mumbai seaport The Mumbai Customs Department,however,slapped hefty Customs duties on the company,which it disputed. The CEGAT had,in an order dated June 30,2003,ruled that we do not find grounds for imposition of penalty (by the Mumbai Customs) and dismissed their petition before them.
