WASHINGTON, November 8 (RIA Novosti) – Former Chad ambassador to the United States and Canada Mahamoud Adam Bechir is facing forfeiture and penalty for accepting a $2 million bribe from a Canadian energy company, the US Department of Justice said in a press release.
"The Department of Justice…is seeking the forfeiture of $106,488.31 in allegedly laundered funds traceable to a $2 million bribe payment made by a Canadian energy company to Chad's former ambassador to the United States and Canada and his wife," the Friday press release says.
The Department of Justice is "also seeking additional assets" from the former ambassador, according to the press release.
Mahamoud Adam Bechir served as Chad's Ambassador to the United States and Canada from 2004 until 2012. According to the US Department of Justice, Bechir used his position "to influence the award of oil development rights in Chad in exchange for $2 million and other valuable interests from Griffiths Energy International Inc.".
The complaint alleges that after mixing the bribe with other funds and laundering them through US bank accounts and real estate, "Bechir transferred $1,474,517 of the criminal proceeds traceable to the bribe payment to his account in South Africa".
In January 2013, Griffiths Energy International Inc. pleaded guilty in a Canadian court to bribing Bechir and was issued a $10.35 million fine for corruption.
