Prosecutors’ 8-Month Suspended Terms Upheld in Eni-Nigeria Bribery Case

Brescia: An appeals court in Brescia on Thursday upheld eight-month suspended jail terms for two Milan prosecutors who were found guilty of withholding documents favorable to Eni managers. These managers were eventually acquitted of charges related to bribing Nigerian government officials for oil and gas contracts.

According to Ansa News Agency, prosecutors Fabio De Pasquale and Sergio Spadaro were again convicted for not submitting documents that could have aided the defense in the Eni/Shell-Nigeria corruption case. The prosecutors were found to have only used evidence that supported their case, omitting data that could have led to the defendants’ acquittal.

In March 2021, a court in Milan acquitted oil giants Eni and Shell, along with all defendants, of corruption allegations in Nigeria. The long-running case centered on the $1.3 billion purchase of an offshore oil block in 2011, where prosecutors alleged that most of the funds were used to bribe Nigerian officials.

Despite these allegations, the Milan court ruled that the two companies and 13 defendants, who were executives at Eni and Shell, had no case to answer.