It’s been two days since the first article detailing the contents of a trove of leaked emails from Unaoil, an obscure family company from Monaco that was revealed to be the fixers in a global web of bribery in corruption that helped the biggest blue-chip companies on earth loot the oil-fields of some of the world’s most vulnerable, poor, and war-torn nations.
Following the revelations, the police in Monaco have raided the offices of Unaoil, while Australian, UK and US cops announced investigations into the companies named in the dump. Peter Gregg, now CEO of Australia’s Primary Health Care, has been revealed as being under criminal investigation for a $15 million payment from when he was CFO of intfrastructure giant Leighton Holdings (Primary apparently knew this when they hired Gregg, and say they’re OK with it because they’re “comfortable with the performance and conduct of Mr Gregg”).
Gregg, meanwhile, threatened to sue Fairfax and a reporter if he wrote about the story.
In the latest revelations to emerge from the trove of Unaoil’s email traffic, Fairfax Media has discovered the deep involvement of a number of well-known Asian companies who worked with Unaoil.The emails reveal corruption inside Malaysia’s national oil company Petronas, as well as South Korean titans Hyundai and Samsung, and even the Chinese government giant Sinopec. The oil industry’s biggest ever scandal has also exposed Asian conglomerates Yokogawa of Japan, South Korea’s ISU, Singapore’s Keppel and Malaysian firm Ranhill.
The emails show some Asian executives are enthusiastic participants in graft, underscoring the pervasive culture of corruption across the region. It’s an alarming proposition as Asian companies develop into some of the most powerful and influential players in global business.
Police raids and more revelations: the fallout of the Unaoil scandal
[Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker, Michael Bachelard, Daniel Quinlan/Sydney Morning Herald]
(via Naked Capitalism)