SCHUMER CALLS FOR FEDERAL CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION INTO BP'S OIL-FOR-TERRORIST EXCHANGE TO DETERMINE WHETHER BP VIOLATED FOREIGN CORRUPT PRACTICES ACT

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer requested that Attorney General Eric Holder open a criminal investigation into allegations that oil giant BP may have engaged in an illegal deal to secure the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset alMegrahi in exchange for access to Libyan oil fields. Schumer said that mounting evidence indicates a possible link between the release of alMegrahi and the completion of long stalled negotiations between BP and the Libyan government. If BP engaged in such a deal, the company may have violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and can be held criminally liable. 

 

Schumer said that, according to the FCPA it is unlawful for corporations to authorize the giving of anything of value to foreign officials for the purpose of influencing any act or decision of foreign officials in their official capacity. Standing with victims of Lockerbie bombing Schumer requested that the Justice Department begin an immediate investigation into the potential oilforterrorist deal.

 

"The revelation that alMegrahi may live another 10 years was salt in the national wound that was reopened with his release last August," said Schumer. "The families of the victims have the right to know if his release was part of an oil deal. The circumstantial evidence out there is too much to ignore, it's time the Department of Justice took a hard look at these allegations and get to the bottom of it."

 

Standing at the Michael J. Dillon Federal Courthouse with the Brunner family who lost their loved one, Colleen Brunner on Pan Am flight 103, Mayor Byron Brown and local law enforcement, Schumer made the case that a full investigation is necessary to get to the bottom of scandal and bring justice to the families.

 

 BP has admitted that it lobbied United Kingdom government officials to wrap up a proposed prisoner transfer agreement (PTA) with the Libyan government amid concerns that a delay in reaching this agreement would harm a deal BP had signed with Libya's National Oil Company to explore for oil and gas in the Gulf of Sidra and in parts of Libya's western desert-an agreement which BP estimated could lead to eventual earnings of up to $20 billion.  Indeed, it appears that the completion of the PTA, in Libya's favor with the inclusion of alMegrahi, played a key role in the initial approval of BP's oil exploration agreement with Libya.  Furthermore, it appears that bureaucratic hurdles to finalizing the agreement and beginning oil drilling off of Libya's coast were only removed after alMegrahi's ultimate release from prison and return to Libya.

 

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, enacted in 1977, says that it is unlawful for corporations to authorize the giving of anything of value to foreign officials for the purpose of influencing any act or decision of foreign officials in their official capacity.   If BP, or its officials, promised the Libyan Government that it would secure alMegrahi's release from detention in exchange for oil exploration rights-or even that it would provide lobbying services for such a release on the Libyan Government's behalf-BP may have been unlawfully authorizing performance of valuable services to the Libyan Government in exchange for profitable oil exploration rights in express violation of the FCPA.  Similarly, if BP promised anything of value to United Kingdom government officials to secure alMegrahi's release, this would also violate the FCPA.

 

On December 21, 1988, Pan Am Flight 103, enroute from London's Heathrow Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, exploded over the town of Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 259 on board and 11 people on the ground.  Many New Yorkers and New Jersey residents were among the 189 Americans killed in the bombing.  In 2001, Abdel Baset alMegrahi was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. 

 

On August 20 ^th 2009, the Scottish Government released alMegrahi, who was said to be suffering from prostate cancer and was predicted to have a mere three months to live. Eleven months, later alMegrahi is still alive and the doctor who made the original diagnosis has admitted to being bribed into making a false diagnosis. The doctor now predicts that alMegrahi may live up to ten years. Upon his return to Libya, thousands of young men, who had been transported by the Libyan government, gathered at the airport in Tripoli to greet the terrorist.  They waved banners and threw flower petals after alMegrahi was escorted from prison by Seif alIslam elQaddafi, the son of the Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Qaddafi. Schumer, along with senate colleagues, has also called on the US State Department to urge British authorities to work with the Scottish government to have alMegrahi returned to prison.

Schumer opposed the original release of alMegrahi, making the case that family member who lost loved ones did not get a threemonth reprieve so neither should alMegrahi. At the time, Schumer pressed the British government to move for an immediate transfer of alMegrahi back to a Scottish prison. Later, Schumer spearheaded a Senate resolution condemning the release and pressed the entire international community to condemn the alMegrahi release through a United Nations Resolution.

Schumer joined by Senators Gillibrand, Menendez, and Lautenberg last week requested the British government investigate the circumstances surrounding alMegrahi's release and requested that BP and the British government turn over all documents related to the oil companies' efforts lobbying for a prisonrelease agreement with Libya. They also called for the US State Department to press the British to investigate BP's involvement in the incident.

The full text of Schumer's letter to Attorney General Holder can be seen below:

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The Honorable Eric Holder

Attorney General

United States Department of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 205300001

 

Dear Attorney General Holder:

 

I write to request that the U.S. Department of Justice investigate whether BP p.l.c. violated any of the provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA") by lobbying the British government for the August 2009 release of Abdel Baset alMegrahi, the Libyan terrorist convicted of the 1988 bombing of PanAm flight 103 that killed 270 people, including 189 Americans.

 

BP has admitted that it lobbied United Kingdom government officials to wrap up a proposed prisoner transfer agreement (PTA) with the Libyan government amid concerns that a delay in reaching this agreement would harm a deal BP had signed with Libya's National Oil Company to explore for oil and gas in the Gulf of Sidra and in parts of Libya's western desert-an agreement which BP estimated could lead to eventual earnings of up to $20 billion.  Indeed, it appears that the completion of the PTA, in Libya's favor with the inclusion of alMegrahi, played a key role in the initial approval of BP's oil exploration agreement with Libya.  Furthermore, it appears that bureaucratic hurdles to finalizing the agreement and beginning oil drilling off of Libya's coast were only removed after Megrahi's ultimate release from prison and return to Libya. Additionally, Libya Leader Colonel Gadhafi's son, Seif alIslam Gadhafi, said last year in comments aired on the Libyan television station he owns that alMegrahi's release was a constant discussion point during trade talks - stretching back to Blair's government. Additionally, Seif alIslam Gadhafi, told alMegrahi that in all the trade, oil and gas deals which he supervised, the release of the terrorist was part of the negotiations.

 

Pursuant to the FCPA, 15 U.S.C. §§ 78dd1, et seq., it is unlawful for corporations to authorize the giving of anything of value to foreign officials for the purpose of influencing any act or decision of foreign officials in their official capacity.   If BP, or its officials, promised the Libyan Government that it would secure alMegrahi's release from detention in exchange for oil exploration rights-or even that it would provide lobbying services for such a release on the Libyan Government's behalf-BP may have been unlawfully authorizing performance of valuable services to the Libyan Government in exchange for profitable oil exploration rights in express violation of the FCPA.  Similarly, if BP promised anything of value to United Kingdom government officials to secure alMegrahi's release, this would also violate the FCPA.

 

Potential violations of the FCPA that directly result in the release of convicted terrorists who have killed American citizens are extremely serious, and must be investigated to the fullest extent possible.  I know you share my commitment to fully prosecuting those who harm Americans, and I trust you will do whatever it takes to prosecute all persons who violated our laws in connection with alMegrahi's release and to assure the American people that all efforts have been exhausted in determining whether any American laws were broken as part of this unconscionable release.

 

I thank you for your attention to this important matter, and am eager to work with you to ensure that justice is done and that the families of the victims of this atrocity can see that their government is doing everything it can to fight on their behalf.

 

 

Sincerely,