**3.2 Relevant facts about the MNCs and involved personnel(s)**

Four MNCs were involved in the bribery case in the form of a consortium named TSKJ. The MNCs are Technip of France, Snamprogetti of Italy, Kellogg Brown and Roots (KBR), a subsidiary of Halliburton Energy Services, and Japan Gas Corporation ([9], p. 20).

Halliburton Energy Services is a multinational corporation with operations in over 120 countries. This company started as Halliburton Oil Well Cementing Company in 1920, became incorporated in 1924, and became listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1948 [10].

The following two paragraphs have been excerpted from the complaint lodged by the Securities and Exchange Commission to the US District Court Southern District of Texas Houston Division. They describe the basic information about the company:

*"In September 1998, Halliburton Company ("Halliburton") acquired Dresser Industries, Inc. ("Dresser"), including Dresser's subsidiary, The M.W. Kellogg Company ("Kellogg"). After the acquisition, Kellogg was combined with Halliburton's subsidiary, Brown & Root, Inc., to form Kellogg, Brown & Root, Inc., which later became Kellogg, Brown & Root, LLC, now a wholly-owned subsidiary of KBR, Inc." ([11] at 1).*

*"KBR, Inc. is a Delaware engineering, construction and government services corporation headquartered in Houston, Texas. KBR, Inc. was formed in March 2006 and was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Halliburton until November 2006, when it became a separate publicly-traded company. KBR, Inc.'s common stock is registered under Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act and trades on the New York Stock Exchange." ([11] at 3).*

KBR owned 25% share in the TSKJ ([12], p. 20). Analysis of the following excerpts from the complaint lodged by the Securities and Exchange Commission to the US District Court Southern District of Texas Houston Division leads to the conclusion that executives of KBR played the first fiddle in devising and implementing the bribery scheme. In other words, they were the mastermind.

*"Officers and employees at the highest level of KBR, including its former CEO, Albert Jackson Stanley ("Stanley"), were closely involved in the joint venture and its business in Nigeria from the joint venture's inception. Each member of the joint venture had one or more representatives on a steering committee that ran the joint venture. Stanley was a member of that steering committee at all relevant times. Other high-ranking personnel of KBR were also closely involved in the joint venture; these included sales, legal and operational personnel." ([11] at 4).*

*Bribery Practices of Three MNCs in the Host Countries: An Examination of the Issue from HRM… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.104810*

The company's 'Code of Business Conduct' states that the company policy requires directors, employees and agents to observe high standards of business ([12], p. 19).

Halliburton Energy Services knew about the schemes of bribery and had indulgence in the matter because the CEO of KBR, Inc. used to report directly to the Chief Operating Officer of Halliburton Energy Services [13].

Four people from Halliburton's subsidiary and one person from Technip were mainly involved in the bribery practices. Their profiles are described below:


#### **3.3 Relevant information about the case**

• The bribery case came into the limelight when a French magistrate initiated the investigation of suspicious payments made by TSKJ after Mr. Georges Krammer said Mr. Jeffrey Tesler is 'directly linked to corruption in Nigeria' [13].

