An official at the Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI) allegedly made letters of credit (L/Cs) available at a preferential rate to a US company according to a new lawsuit.

It alleges that a US chemical company, Innospec, become involved in several corrupt practices in its dealings with Iraq.

Allegations

The Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC) on 24 January charged a former chief executive officer at Innospec with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

The SEC alleges that Paul Jenningsapproved bribes to government officials to obtain and retain business.

Corruption history

The commission also alleges that in 2004, when he was chief financial officer, Jennings learned that the company had an ingrained culture of paying bribes to win orders in Iraq for chemicals used to enhance petroleum products.

Jennings become Innospec's CEO in 2005, after which he and other Innospec managers approved payments of bribes to officials at Iraq's oil ministry to secure sales of petroleum additives to the country's refineries.

The SEC's complaint also alleges that Jennings knew about a scheme to pay a TBI official in exchange for Innospec receiving preferential exchange rates on its L/Cs.

This article represents the views of the author and not necessarily those of the ICC or any of the other partners in DC-PRO.