Exclusive: Nigerian Prosecutor to Dick Cheney: Nobody Is Above the Law
Nigeria claims Dick Cheney is guilty of bribing officials while Halliburton CEO.
ABUJA, Nigeria Dec. 15, 2010 -- The head of Nigeria's anti-corruption body says the country has charged former vice president Dick Cheney with bribery to send a message: "Nobody is above the laws of the land."
Farida Mzamber Waziri, the executive chairman of Nigeria's Economic Financial Crimes Commission tells ABC News that the country will never end its culture of corruption and impunity until it starts prosecuting everyone guilty of breaking the law. Even if it means charging a former Vice President of the United States.
"It's not about profile," says Waziri. "It's about breaching the laws of the land."
The charges were filed Dec. 7 and center around Cheney's activities as the chief executive of Halliburton and its one-time subsidiary KBR before he became the vice president in 2001. Last year both companies pleaded guilty in a U.S. court to violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices act by paying more than $180 million in bribes to Nigerian officials prior to 2007. The companies were fined $579 million, the largest fine ever paid under the act.
EFCC spokesman Femi Babafemi told Reuters that an offer had been made by Halliburton to settle the case by paying fines totaling up to $250 million.
Though the Department of Justice and the Security and Exchange Commission conducted an extensive investigation, Nigerian officials have been conducting their own and want the case prosecuted in the country where the crimes were committed.
"Monies were taken to off shore accounts at the expense of the poor masses of Nigeria," says Waziri. "The monies meant for development projects are the ones that are carted away, so we are the victims."
Cheney's lawyer, Terrence O'Donnell issued a statement calling the charges "baseless." O'Donnell points to the fact that the U.S. investigation "found no suggestion of any impropriety by Dick Cheney in his role of CEO of Halliburton."
"Any suggestion of misconduct on his part, made now, years later, is entirely baseless," says O'Donnell.
Nigeria's EFCC has charged Cheney and three other executives personally, along with the company, for violating Nigeria's anti-corruption laws.
"Dick Cheney was head of Halliburton," says Waziri. "There's no way such amount of money would've been moved to bribe Nigerians without his approval and without his knowledge, this is what we're saying."
Related Stories
ABC News Live