Oilfield services giant Halliburton said Friday that it was terminating its relationship with A. Jack Stanley, a consultant and former chairman of its subsidiary Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR), because of a bribery scandal involving work done at a Nigerian liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal. Another consultant and former employee of M.W. Kellogg Ltd., a joint venture in which KBR has a 55% interest, also is being terminated.

Houston-based Halliburton, which was previously run by Vice President Dick Cheney, said the terminations occurred because of violations of codes of business conduct that involved the “receipt by these persons of improper personal benefits.”

“While we do not know all of the facts related to the issue, we are taking these actions in response to the facts that we do have and to protect our investors, employees, customers and vendors as several investigations proceed,” said Halliburton CEO Dave Lesar. “It is important to the company that clients, suppliers and host countries know Halliburton’s code of business conduct is expected to be followed in every country in which the company operates.”

Stanley presided over KBR when it was chosen to help build, and later expand, the Nigerian LNG project, which is among the world’s largest export terminals. Halliburton’s decision to fire him, along with the other consultant, comes just weeks after The Wall Street Journal reported that French investigators had found $5 million of suspected bribery money in a Swiss bank account bearing the former chairman’s name. French authorities are questioning whether a partnership that is partially owned by KBR paid up to $180 million in bribes, some of which allegedly went to Stanley, in order to get the LNG project.

Halliburton said it continues to cooperate with the U.S. Department of Justice and the SEC on these matters, and its own internal investigation is continuing. The company said, however, that it does not believe it has violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, although there can be no assurance that the government or the company’s internal investigation will not conclude otherwise.

As a result of the violations of Halliburton’s code of business conduct, however, the company said that it was going to ask TSKJ, the partnership that is building the LNG terminal, to terminate immediately all services of Tri-Star Investments and to pursue all available legal remedies against that company.

TSKJ is a private limited liability company registered in Madeira, Portugal whose members are Technip SA of France, Snamprogetti Netherlands (an affiliate of ENI SpA of Italy), JGC Corp. of Japan, and KBR, each of which owns 25% of the venture.

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