Iran:

• Norway’s largest company, state-owned Statoil, was investigated and fined (US$ 2.9 million) by Økokrim, Norway’s economic crime unit. Statoil was accused of bribing Iranian public officials in order to secure oil contracts in Iran. The payments were passed to the Iranian officials through a US$ 15.2 million contract to Horton Investment Services, a Turks and Caicos consultancy agency engaged by Statoil to provide advice for securing oil contracts in Iran.
  Source: http://www.transparency.org/publications/gcr/download_gcr/download_gcr_2005#download
  See also Report by Lucinda Low on FCPA Prosecutions and Investigations, 5 May 2006

Iran:

• Total SA and Norsk Hydro ASA are alleged to have made improper payments to Iranian officials in connection with contracts for oil. Press reports state that the SEC, in the context of its general inquiry into the activities of oil companies in Iran, has requested the two companies to disclose documents pertaining to transactions in Iran.
  Source: Report by Lucinda Low on FCPA Prosecutions and Investigations, 5 May 2006. SEC Probing Total, Eni and Norsk for Commissions Paid in Iran, Dow Jones Newswire (May 17, 2005)

Iraq:

• A report for the UN by former US Federal Reserve chief Paul Volcker found last year that the Australian Wheat Board had paid the biggest bribes of some 2,000 companies worldwide involved in the corruption of the UN's oil-for-food program in Iraq. AWB has denied knowing that the money it paid to Jordanian trucking firm Alia was being diverted to Saddam's regime.
  Source : http://www.metimes.com/print.php?StoryID=20060413-061038-6273r
  In April 2006 it was reported that over 40 leading French companies including Peugeot, Renault and the French subsidiary of Siemens are being prosecuted for paying Saddam Hussein huge kickbacks in return for major contracts during his rule in Iraq.

  According to Judge Philippe Courroye, who launched the criminal investigation, only the big-scale offenders are to be prosecuted. The other 300 firms implicated in the scandal would not be called to account.
  Source: http://www.againstcorruption.org/CorruptionCase.asp?id=879

Middle East:

• The Swiss-Swedish engineering giant ABB said it had disclosed to the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) details of suspect payments in a country in the Middle East. (11 February 2006)
  Source: http://www.finfacts.com/irelandbusinessnews/publish/article_10004848.shtml

  According to the November 19, 2003 edition of The Wall Street Journal, Accenture Ltd. has disclosed that the US SEC and the Department of Justice are investigating allegations of bribery involving Accenture’s Middle East operations. The company has not provided details of the allegations, nor has it named the specific company involved.
  Source: http://www.fcpaenforcement.com/documents/document_detail.asp?ID=3057&PAGE=2

Oman/Qatar/United Arab Emirates:

• Italian authorities are investigating two senior officers of Enelpower SpA, a major Italian energy company, for allegedly bribing foreign public officials in Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. The company executives reportedly inflated invoices from consulting firms from work related to contracts worth approximately one billion euros (approximately USD 1.2 billion) in the Middle Eastern countries from 1999 – 2001. The excess funds were reportedly used to bribe foreign officials in those Middle Eastern countries. The trial is expected to start within one year. (July 2004)
  Source: http://tcc.export.gov/wcm/groups/marketresearch/@tcc/documents/briberyreport/exp_000951.pdf
  and http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/0/50/33995536.pdf

Saudi Arabia:

• The UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is investigating a major bribery case that allegedly lasted for more than 14 years. The case involves the regular payments of millions of pounds to well-connected Saudis in order to secure defence equipment contracts with the government of Saudi Arabia. The SFO initiated an investigation in 2004 for suspected false accounting in relation to contracts for services between Robert Lee International Ltd, Travellers World Ltd and BAE.
  Source: http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foi/story/0,,1380636,00.html

• In July 1, 2004 press release from the US Department of Justice, HealthSouth Corporation executives were indicted for allegedly engaging in a scheme to bribe the director general of a Saudi Arabian foundation to help HealthSouth win a contract to provide staffing and management services for a 450-bed hospital in Saudi Arabia. The director general sought a “finder’s fee” of $1 million, and HealthSouth allegedly agreed to a $500,000 per year payment for a period of five years in exchange for his promise to execute the Saudi Arabian foundation’s contract.Both Thomson and Reilly pleaded not guilty to the charges at a hearing on July 16, 2004.A Federal Jury acquitted the two former executives in May 2005.
  Source: Report by Lucinda Low on FCPA Prosecutions and Investigations, 5 May 2006 http://www.fcpaenforcement.com/documents/document_detail.asp?ID=3079&PAGE=2
  United States v. Reilly and Thomson (Case No. 04-CR-240-ALL), N.D. Ala, July 2004; “Two Former HealthSouth Execs Are Acquitted” www.NYSSCPA.org

• Lucent Technologies allegedly paid over $15 million in cash, gifts and the use of private jets to a Saudi Arabian minister of Post Telephone and Telegraph between 1995 and 2002 to secure telecommunications projects in the Kingdom.Lucent has denied the charges and is cooperating with the SEC and Justice Department in their investigation.The SEC staff has reportedly recommended a $25 million penalty against Lucent.In its February 2006 10-Q filing, Lucent stated that SEC investigations regarding China and Saudi Arabia were ongoing.
  Source: Report by Lucinda Low on FCPA Prosecutions and Investigations, 5 May 2006. Lucent 10-Q filing (February 28, 2006); Financial Times (April 7, 2004); Financial Times (April 7, 2004)