Two men formerly employed by Willbros International, a subsidiary of Houston-operated engineering and construction company Willbros Group, have been charged in connection with conspiracy to pay $6 million in bribes to government officials in Nigeria and Ecuador, the U.S. Department of Justice announced today.
James Tillery, 49, a former executive of Willbros International, and Paul Novak, 41, a former consultant to the firm, were charged in a four-count indictment unsealed in a Houston U.S. District Court.
Willbros Group is incorporated in Panama but run out of Houston.
Novak appeared in court this afternoon after being arrested upon arrival at George Bush Intercontinental Airport. He was returning to the U.S. from Constantia, South Africa, after his U.S. passport was revoked. Tillery remains at large, according to the Justice Department.
The two men are accused of paying bribes to secure lucrative contracts for Willbros for gas pipeline construction and rehabilitation from the state-owned oil companies in Nigeria and Ecuador.
Tillery and Novak are charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, two counts of violating the act in connection with the authorization of specific allegedly corrupt payments to officials in Nigeria and Ecuador, and one count of conspiring to launder the alleged bribes through purported consulting companies controlled by Novak.
According to the indictment, Tillery began working at the company in the 1980s, working his way up to president of Willbros International. Novak was a Willbros employee in the mid-1990s and later worked as an energy consultant in Nigeria.
If convicted on all charges, Tillery and Novak could face up to 35 years in prison and more than $1 million in fines, according to a Justice Department statement.
Neither the defendants nor their lawyers could be reached for comment today.
Last May Willbros Group and its Willbros International subsidiary entered into a deferred prosecution agreement, paying $22 million in penalties connected with the alleged corrupt payments and cooperating with the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation.