in Depth

How Dan Etete’s billion-dollar deal ended up in court

An investigation in Nigeria has turned into the country’s biggest corporate bribery case. Nine executives from Eni and Royal Dutch Shell, and Nigerian officials, face charges in Milan over how they won control of a rich oil block in a saga that goes back two decades.

ITALY-JUSTICE-BERLUSCONI-COURT © The Milan palace of justice, where the Italian chapter of the oil-block saga is being played out. Photo by Guiseppe Cacace/AFP

Article 1/3

investigation

Article 1/3

Shell, Eni and the Nigerian corruption quagmire of OPL 245 An investigation in Nigeria has turned into the country’s biggest corporate bribery case. Nine executives from Eni and Royal Dutch Shell, and Nigerian...

Nigerian Minister of Petroleum Resources Chief Dan Etete waves to journalists as he arrives at the V.. © Dan Etete, oil minister under Sani Abacha, is at the centre of the OPL 245 scandal. STR NEW/REUTERS

Article 2/3

dirty money

Article 2/3

OPL 245’s webs of influence Who’s who in the web of influence that led to Nigeria’s billion-dollar OPL 245 court case?

Italy Berlusconi Trial © Prosecutor Fabio De Pasquale waits for the sentence on the Mediaset trial of former premier Silvio Berlusconi in 2012. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Article 3/3

corruption hound

Article 3/3

Who is Fabio de Pasquale, prosecutor in the OPL 245 case? Fabio de Pasquale, the Milan-based prosecutor in the OPL 245 case against Eni, is also known for nailing Silvio Berlusconi for tax fraud.

The In Depth Collection