The U.S. Justice Department said that Schlumberger Oilfield Holdings had plead guilty to violating U.S. sanctions related to Iran and Sudan and would pay a $237.2 million fine.
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Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. of the District of Columbia and Under Secretary Eric L. Hirschhorn of the U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security announced that Schlumberger Oilfield Holdings Ltd. (SOHL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Schlumberger Ltd., has agreed to enter a guilty plea and to pay a $232,708,356 penalty to the United States for conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) by willfully facilitating illegal transactions and engaging in trade with Iran and Sudan.
Over a period of years, Schlumberger Oilfield Holdings Ltd. conducted business with Iran and Sudan from the United States and took steps to disguise those business dealings, thereby willfully violating the U.S. economic sanctions against those regimes," said Assistant Attorney General Carlin.
"This is a landmark case that puts global corporations on notice that they must respect our trade laws when on American soil," said U.S. Attorney Machen.
"Even if you don't directly ship goods from the United States to sanctioned countries, you violate our laws when you facilitate trade with those countries from a U.S.-based office building. For years, in a variety of ways, this foreign company facilitated trade with Iran and Sudan from Sugar Land, Texas."
A criminal information was filed in federal court in the District of Columbia charging SOHL with one count of knowingly and willfully conspiring to violate IEEPA.
OHL waived the requirement of being charged by way of federal Indictment, agreed to the filing of the information, and has accepted responsibility for its criminal conduct and that of its employees by entering into a plea agreement with the government.
The plea agreement, which is contingent upon the court's approval, requires that SOHL pay the U.S. government $232,708,356 and enter into a three-year period of corporate probation. SOHL's monetary penalty includes a $77,569,452 criminal forfeiture and an additional $155,138,904 criminal fine. The criminal fine represents the largest criminal fine in connection with an IEEPA prosecution.
In addition to SOHL's agreement to continue its cooperation with U.S. authorities throughout the three-year period of probation and not to engage in any felony violation of U.S. federal law, SOHL's parent company, Schlumberger Ltd., also has agreed to continue its cooperation with U.S. authorities during the three-year period of probation, and hire an independent consultant who will review the parent company's internal sanctions policies, procedures and company-generated sanctions audit reports. ■