Dominovas Energy Corp. (fka DNRG)

[Alinea818]

Confidential negotiations Al Rushaid Group claims to have suffered a loss after having paid too much for NOV deliveries, as a result of corrupt servants amongst themselves being bribed by NOV.
The company is risking a claim of up to one billion dollars. The company is, along with other NOV subsidiaries, drawn into a long-lasting international corruption case. The case involves bribery, overpriced contracts, faulty deliveries and money laundering during the period 2006 to 2010.


https://www.journalism.co.uk/press-releases/risk-of-a-one-billion-dollar-claim/s66/a632931/

Risk of a one-billion dollar claim

OIL SERVICE: While 2,500 have lost their jobs in National Oilwell Varco in Norway, the company may be facing a new challenge, a claim of up to one billion dollars for loss caused by alleged bribery

Posted: 29 April 2016

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Translation of an article which was published in Finansavisen, a Norwegian financial daily newspaper, on March 2, 2016. http://finansavisen.no/ which explains the background to a one-billion dollar claim against National Oilwell Varco (NOV) The oil price decline has hit the American equipment manufacturer National Oilwell Varco (NOV) hard. Since the top listing in the summer of 2014, the share has dropped from 85 to 30 dollars. The drilling equipment market has almost dried up.

The Norwegian subsidiary NOV Norway is the largest private employer in Southern Norway after the acquisitions of Hitec and Hydralift. The decline in orders has resulted in 2,500 lay-offs and dismissals.

But new challenges are setting in. The company is risking a claim of up to one billion dollars. The company is, along with other NOV subsidiaries, drawn into a long-lasting international corruption case. The case involves bribery, overpriced contracts, faulty deliveries and money laundering during the period 2006 to 2010.

The Swiss bank Picted & Cie is also drawn into the scandal being accused of facilitating the transactions. Secret money transfers have allegedly taken place from Norway to a nominee company on the British Virgin Islands. The nominee company was established by three unfaithful servants at one of NOV's customers, the Saudi company Al Rushaid Group.

Confidential negotiationsAl Rushaid Group claims to have suffered a loss after having paid too much for NOV deliveries, as a result of corrupt servants amongst themselves being bribed by NOV. After several attempts by Finansavisen to reach the management of NOV Norway, we received an email from director of communications Dag Nordbø: "Hi, this case is handled in its entirety by our head office in Houston, who has the following comment:"
"NOV typically does not comment on pending litigation. In addition, the matter is, in part, in a confidential arbitration process. After an extensive investigation and a thorough review of the background and facts, NOV believes there is no merit to the allegations raised in the lawsuit against NOV."

Neither Mr. Nordbø nor managing director Tor Henning Ramfjord wants to comment beyond this. It is obvious that negotiations are in progress between the parties. At the same time, NOV claims that the accusations and claims are unfounded.

Kickbacks The case has been going on since 2010 and heard in a number of court instances, on the British Virgin Islands, in the USA, England and Switzerland. The Saudi businessman Rasheed Al-Rushaid who owns Al-Rushaid Group, has sued three of his previous employees, NOV, and amongst them the Norwegian subsidiary and Pictet.

Thomas Caplis, Shektar Shetty and James Wight worked previously with acquisitions in the partnership ARPD, which Al-Rushaid Group had with the listed Parker Drilling. They were assisted by a friend in Pictet in the establishment of the company TSJ Engineering Consulting on the British Virgin Islands. TSJ are the first-name initials of the three.

In 2013, a British court established that they had received secret commissions via TSJ, and last year they were found guilty of money laundering by a Swiss court. All accounts in Pictet belonging to the three and TSJ were then already frozen as ordered by the prosecution. The secret commissions are estimated to four million dollar.

Al-Rushaid claims damages from NOV for loss he believes his company has suffered. ARPD is claimed to have paid too much for the deliveries from NOV as a result of the bribery, and that the deliveries were faulty. The latter has allegedly resulted ARPD's loss of a drilling contract with Saudi Aramco and Parker Drilling's subsequent withdrawal from the cooperation.
Arbitration

In the last court round, for now, in Texas in February, judge Thomas M. Reavly decided that claims against NOV Norway are subject to arbitration in the international chamber of commerce (ICC). Claims against other involved NOV subsidiaries will be resolved in Texas. ICC's arbitration tribunal is in Paris. ICC Norway has not confirmed that the claim has been registered.
At the end of 2014, National Oilwell Norway had a booked equity of 13 billion kroner and six billion kroner in cash. But the total debt amounted to 35.5 billion kroner.