National Oilwell Varco sued over bribing employees in connection with a Saudi government

...drilling project

/EINPresswire.com/ Houston, Texas - October 19, 2011 -- Prominent Saudi business man Rasheed Al Rushaid has brought an action against National Oilwell Varco (NOV) asking the court to award judgment of 1 Billion Dollars. The case is currently pending in Houston Texas.

At the center of the dispute are payments from NOV to a company in the BVI called TSJ Consulting. TSJ Consulting was incorporated by Shekhar Shetty, Tomas Caplis, and Jim Wight, three former senior employees of the Al Rushaid Group. The complaint alleges that NOV made payments to TSJ in exchange for purchase orders which were approved by Shetty, Caplis, and Wight.

The fraudulent payments made by NOV were discovered by a Swiss prosecutor who froze the Shetty, Caplis and Wight accounts at Pictet Bank in Geneva. All three former employees were indicted for money laundering in Geneva and are awaiting trial.

Proceedings have also been commenced against Pictet & Cie. in the Supreme Court of the State of New York. Pictet has close ties to New York. Pictet states on its website "Thanks to its business relations in New York and in England and its solid reputation in Bern, the Bank was responsible for negotiating three federal loans in the United States on behalf of the Swiss Confederation between 1915 and 1920"

In its 2010 Annual Report, NOV discloses that the company has received federal grand jury subpoenas and subsequent inquiries from governmental agencies requesting records related to its compliance with export trade laws and regulations. NOV states that it has cooperated fully with agents from the Department of Justice, the Bureau of Industry and Security, the Office of Foreign Assets Control, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in responding to the inquiries. NOV further discloses that is has also cooperated with an informal inquiry from the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the inquiries previously made by the aforementioned federal agencies. NOV further disclosed that it has conducted its own internal review of this matter. At the conclusion of its internal review in the fourth quarter of 2009, NOV identified possible areas of concern and discussed these areas of concern with the relevant agencies. NOV disclosed that it is currently negotiating a potential resolution with the agencies involved related to these matters. NOV currently anticipates that any administrative fine or penalty agreed to as part of a resolution would be within established accruals, and would not have a material effect on its financial position or results of operations. NOV further states that to the extent a resolution is not negotiated as anticipated, NOV cannot predict the timing or effect that any resulting government actions may have on its financial position or results of operations.

For further information contact:
Chris Lyons
Phone: +1 (305) 379-5554
Email: clyons@llpalaw.com