Former Petrofac Executive Ordered to Pay £140,000 Over Bribery Case

A former Petrofac executive has been ordered to pay £140,000 over bribery offences in the Middle East.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) secured a confiscation order during a hearing today at the Southwark Crown Court against former head of sales at Petrofac, David Lufkin.

In October, Mr Lufkin was handed a two-year sentence, suspended for 18 months, for making bribery payments to win oil and gas contracts for Petrofac in Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

He had previously pleaded guilty to 14 counts of bribery and admitted to making corrupt payments between 2011 and 2018.

A confiscation order is an order of the Crown Court which requires a convicted defendant to pay a sum of money immediately or, if they show that they needs time to pay it, within a fixed period of time.

In addition to pleading guilty, the fraud office said he “co-operated with SFO investigators and assisted the wider investigation”.

Emma Luxton, SFO head of Proceeds of Crime and International Assistance, said: “This ruling is yet another example of the SFO’s dogged determination to trace and recover the proceeds of bribery and corruption around the world.

“Today’s confiscation order sends a strong message that crime does not pay.”

The order comes after Petrofac (LON: PFC) was ordered to pay £77million in October over seven separate counts of failure to prevent bribery between 2011 and 2017.

Following that ruling, chairman Rene Medori said it “draws a line under a regrettable period” of Petrofac history, adding that the firm has “taken responsibility, reformed and learned from these past mistakes, as acknowledged by the SFO and the Court”.

Article credit: https://www.energyvoice.com/oilandgas/372924/petrofac-david-lufkin-bribery-sfo/