Shell Director Charged with Fraud in the US

A recent Shell director and former upstream chief are facing legal action in the US and Italy.

Shell announced October 18 that non-executive director Guy Elliott has stood down with immediate effect. Shell chairman Charles Holliday said: “We fully respect and appreciate Guy’s decision which is related to his involvement in legal proceedings regarding his former employment at Rio Tinto.”

The US Securities and Exchanges Commission late October 17 charged Rio Tinto and two former top executives, one being Elliott, with fraud for inflating the value of coal assets acquired for $3.7bn which were sold a few years later for just $50mn. Elliott was CFO at Rio Tinto when the Mozambican coal mining assets were acquired in 2011 and stands accused, with the then CEO Thomas Albanese, of concealing key information from shareholders.

Earlier this week The Times and other media reported that former Shell upstream chief Malcolm Brinded plus three other former Shell employees will learn within weeks whether charges will be brought in Italy against them for alleged corruption by Shell and Eni in the acquisition in 2011 of the large OPL 245 exploration block offshore Nigeria. 

Shell has told NGW that a “notice of request for indictment” was made several months ago in Italy in relation to it and four former employees, adding: "No decision had yet been made on indictment." Eni also may face charges, along with some of its past and present executives. The block in question, OPL 245, was seized by Nigerian authorities earlier this year; however Shell and Eni successfully secured its return to their joint control in March 2017 in a Nigerian court. Two months ago Brinded said he would not be seeking re-election as a non-executive director at Australian mining giant BHP Billiton.

Mark Smedley