Dragon Oil have today released a statement that confirms their initial fears of “improper conduct” and apparent bribery within the company’s marketing and contracts department.
The Dubai-based oil explorer, part owned by ENOC, had appointed major accountancy firm KPMG (Dubai) in February to carry out an investigation into the allegations alongside the company’s in-house auditing department.
The results of this investigation have concluded that some staff members, who have since been dismissed, have colluded to obtain money from contractors.
The statement also assured investor that the behaviour of a minority of staff members had “”no material impact on the group’s financial position”.
KPMG’s preliminary findings suggest that “”improper conduct relating to procurement activities” was evident with the two departments. “Although internal controls were in place, the individuals involved managed to override the various controls in the procurement process through collusion,” it stated.
“These individuals appear to have obtained financial benefits for themselves by securing improper payments from certain contractors.”
The chief executive of Dragon Oil, Dr Abdul Jaleel Al-Khalifa was “greatly assured” by the findings.
“We have already replaced the managers involved and appropriate steps have been taken,” he said.
The statement did not name any individuals or give an indication of how many people were involved. A spokesman refused to comment and the company have left it up to the Dubai authorities to decide whether criminal proceeding will be brought.
