The former CEO of Algeria’s state-owned oil and gas group Sonatrach, Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour, was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison for corruption in connection with the purchase of a refinery in Italy. Ahmed Mazighi, the former assistant to Mr. Ould Kaddour who had piloted the project to buy the refinery, was sentenced to seven years in prison. A former executive of the oil group was sentenced to three years in prison while another was released by the Algiers court, according to the lawyer. They were prosecuted in a corruption case related to the purchase by Sonatrach in 2018 of the Augusta refinery and various infrastructure in southern Italy from Esso Italy, a subsidiary of American ExxonMobil. The amount of the transfer had not been specified but according to the Algerian media, the oil group has paid $ 720 million, an amount considered excessive for an old refinery that began production in 1950. According to the prosecutor’s office, the transaction cost Sonatrach a total of 2.1 billion dollars, as the company also paid 916 million dollars to acquire the oil stored in the refinery and significant additional sums for renovation work.
SOURCE: AFRICA NEWS
More Stories
Tinubu Hits the Ground Running
Russian Minister Makes a Quick Stop in Nairobi
Four Men Absolved of Drug Trafficking in Liberia Disappear
Governments in Sub-Saharan Africa Struggle to Regulate the Mass Expansion of Online Gambling
Why Returns from European Countries are Hugely Unpopular in Most African Countries
A $3 billion IMF Bailout Will Not Instantly Solve Ghana’s Economic Problems
Can Kenya Successfully Establish Efficient and Affordable Smartphone Manufacturing?
How to Be a Female Politician in Africa
Egyptian Firm Unveils IoT-enabled Smartwatch
Women at the Forefront of Africa’s Peace Efforts
With ‘Banel & Adama,’ Ramata-Toulaye Sy Takes Her Place Among Cannes’ Top Names
The Lion Sleeps Tonight: One Song’s Journey from 1930s South Africa to Disney Money-Spinner