Milan Court Clears Saipem over Algerian Case

The Court of Appeal of Milan has cleared Saipem and former senior managers of committing fraud in Algeria early last decade, the Italian engineering firm said January 15. The court said there was no evidence for the facts and cancelled the penalty payments imposed by the first court.

That court a little over a year ago imposed a penalty of €400,000 ($450,000) on Saipem for international corruption but it also imposed a much larger fine – based on the amount of the alleged bribes paid to middlemen in order to secure gas contracts – of about €197mn from all the individuals sentenced, including some former managers of the company. 

Saipem said it was satisfied with the decision.