Total to pay €73m fine over fraudulent fuel sale in E.Guinea
…Company says not indebted to NNPC/PPMC
Although Total Nigeria Plc is alleged to be indebted to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and PPMC, the company has craved the wrath of the Equatorial Guinean government for alleged fraudulent fuel sale. As a penalty for the default, the country is demanding 73 million euros from the multinational oil firm.
The Equatorial Guinea government has made public a demand of 48 billion CFA francs or 73 million euros payment from Total.
Agency report on Tuesday said that, the Central African country is accusing the French oil giants of fraud.
Equatorial Guinea is an oil producing country of about one million inhabitants straddling an island and the mainland. Malabo said they had handed the case to the courts to initiate legal proceedings.
Teodorin, vice-president and son of long-serving President Teodoro Obiang, is currently facing trial in France in the case of ill-gotten assets.
The French prosecutor has demanded a jail term, 30m euros in fine and confiscation of seized property, including a building valued at over 100m euros.
E.Guinea Finance Minister, Miguel Egonga Obiang, was reported to have revealed result of investigations into Total’s fraudulent dealings for which the country is seeking the damages, which occurred with the sale of fuel between 2010 and 2012.
“At the end of our investigations, we found that there is this suspicious and fraudulent situation,” Miguel Engonga Obiang said.
The state television was also reported to have confirmed that during a meeting held between both parties last Monday, August 21, the government demanded that Total presented a proposal for settlement.
However, the management of Total in Equatorial Guinea did not respond to request for clarification, AFP said.
Meanwhile, in Nigeria Management of Total Nigeria Plc had responded to several publications in the press alleging that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has recovered a total of ₦328.9 billion from the nine major oil marketers of which Total was named in some newspaper publications.
Total, in a recent newspaper reaction to the publications, said that the company was invited to the EFCC offices in Kano on the 4th of May, 2017; and at the meeting, it stated its position that it was not indebted to NNPC/PPMC except as in the ordinary course of business and pre-agreed payment terms.
