Written question asked by Lord Bruce of Bennachie (Liberal Democrat) on Thursday, 4 November 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 15 November 2004. It was answered by Baroness Harman (Labour) on Monday, 15 November 2004 on behalf of the Solicitor General.

Solicitor-General

Question: To ask the Solicitor General, whether the Serious Fraud Office is assisting (a) the French authorities and (b) the Nigerian authorities with their investigation into allegations of bribery relating to a Nigerian LNG plant; on what date the Serious Fraud Office began providing assistance to the US authorities with their investigation into allegations of bribery relating to a Nigerian LNG plant.

Answer: Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Solicitor-General (1) whether the Serious Fraud Office is assisting (a) the French authorities and (b) the Nigerian authorities with their investigation into allegations of bribery relating to a Nigerian LNG plant; [197262] (2) on what date the Serious Fraud Office began providing assistance to the US authorities with their investigation into allegations of bribery relating to a Nigerian LNG plant. [197263] The Solicitor-General: For operational reasons the SFO cannot confirm or deny whether a specific matter has been referred to it, or is under investigation. However due to exceptional approval obtained from the US authorities, the SFO can confirm that a request for mutual legal assistance from the USA in relation to the Bonny Island LNG plant, was acceded to on 28 October 2004.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 426 c957W;426 c961W; 197262;197263
Session: 2003-04
Subjects: Criminal investigation Corruption France Serious Fraud Office USA Nigeria Liquefied natural gas
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk