US says Chad diplomat took bribes from Canadian oil firm

Washington (AFP) - The US Justice Department on Tuesday moved to seize $34 million from a senior Chad diplomat who it said took bribes from a Canadian oil company.

The department filed a civil suit in US court to reclaim funds paid by then-Griffiths Energy International in 2009 to Mahamoud Adam Bechir, at the time Chad's ambassador to the United States, and his deputy Youssouf Hamid Takane, to help the company acquire oil rights in Chad.

The case says Griffiths -- which later changed its name to Caracal and is now a unit of British mining giant Glencore -- issued four million shares to the wives of the two men, and paid a $2 million consulting fee to Bechir's wife, for help in the deal.

"This bribe payment was commingled and laundered through US bank accounts and real property, and eventually was transferred to Bechir's bank account in South Africa," the Justice department said.

Bechir is currently Chad's ambassador in South Africa.

The US is seeking forfeiture of $34 million, representing the value of the shares, under the Justice Department's Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative.

US law allows the government to claim property obtained under certain unlawful activities such as bribery and money laundering.

The case filing says the shares were sold off by the Chadians in July 2014 when Glencore took the company over to gain control of its Chad oil exploration concessions.

It said the funds from the sale are being held in accounts in the royal bank of Scotland in the name of Bechir's and Takane's wives.

In 2013, Griffiths was fined more than $10 million in Canada under the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act over the bribes paid to the Chad officials.