Cases

TechnipFMC / FMC Technologies: bribery of Iraqi Ministry of Oil officials for metering-technology contracts (from 2008 to 2013; resolved 2019)

On 25 June 2019 the US Department of Justice announced that TechnipFMC plc and its US subsidiary Technip USA Inc. would pay over $296m in global penalties to resolve an FCPA case covering two schemes: one in Brazil, and one by FMC Technologies (a legacy company that merged with Technip in 2017) to bribe Iraqi officials. From at least 2008 through 2013, FMC Technologies made more than $794,000 in payments to a Monaco-based intermediary, which used at least some of the funds to bribe at least seven Iraqi Ministry of Oil officials and two companies to win contracts to supply metering technology for measuring oil-and-gas production. TechnipFMC plc entered a three-year deferred prosecution agreement; Technip USA Inc. admitted to a conspiracy charge; the SEC separately brought a related administrative action. No Iraqi official or the intermediary company was named.

Period: From 2008 to June 2019
Sector: Foreign bribery (Iraq-related)Oil-metering technology contracts
Kind of case: Criminal prosecution
Jurisdiction: United States

How the money moved

Payments funnelled through a Monaco-based intermediary, the same modus operandi used elsewhere in Iraq's oil sector, to Iraqi Ministry of Oil officials and two unnamed companies, in exchange for metering-technology contract awards.

What happened

deferred prosecution agreement and guilty-plea-equivalent admission completed in 2019; SEC separately settled. No Iraq-specific individual prosecution is on record.

Open questions

Identity of the Monaco-based intermediary; names of the seven bribed Ministry of Oil officials and the two companies; exact SEC penalty amount.

Headline amount

$296.2 million

Basis: DOJ's headline global-penalty figure, covering the Brazil and Iraq schemes together, not broken out by country

Source: US Department of Justice (Office of Public Affairs)Tier A

The amounts

$296.2 millionTier A
Total global criminal or civil penalties (Brazil + Iraq combined)
$794,000Tier A
Payments FMC Technologies made to the Monaco-based intermediary in connection with the Iraq scheme
$214 millionTier D
Of the $296.18m total, reported as paid to Brazilian enforcement authorities for the separate Brazil scheme

Each figure is shown as its source gives it, with its evidence tier. Figures from different sources are not added together. What the tiers mean

Institutions

US Department of Justice, Fraud Section / USAO Eastern District of New York (prosecuting authority)
US Securities and Exchange Commission (related administrative action)
Iraq's Ministry of Oil (bribe-recipient institution)

People and companies

The table lists everyone this case names, with their legal status on the date shown. A status in this case does not carry over to any other case, and an accusation is not a conviction. How to read the status.

People and companies
Name	Role in the case	Legal status	Detail	As of
Technip USA Inc.	US subsidiary	Pleaded guilty	Admitted to conspiracy charges violating the FCPA in connection with both the Brazil and Iraq schemes, 25 June 2019.	28 September 2026
TechnipFMC plc تكنيب إف إم سي	Successor parent company (formed by 2017 Technip/FMC Technologies merger); defendant	Charged or wanted	Charged with two counts of conspiracy to violate the FCPA; entered a 3-year deferred prosecution agreement, 25 June 2019, covering both the Brazil and Iraq schemes.	28 September 2026
FMC Technologies, Inc.	Legacy pre-merger company whose 2008 to 2013 conduct is the substance of the Iraq scheme	Accused by an official body	Identified in DOJ materials as the entity that made the $794,000+ payments to the Monaco-based intermediary.	28 September 2026

Sources

These are the documents on which this case rests. Each quote is given in the language of the document.

US Department of Justice (Office of Public Affairs)25 June 2019Prosecutor press releaseTier A
TechnipFMC Plc and U.S.-Based Subsidiary Agree to Pay Over $296 Million in Global Penalties to Resolve Foreign Bribery Case
FMC Technologies made over $794,000 in payments to a third party consultant ... used, at least in part, to pay bribes to Iraqi government officials
Original
France24 (AFP wire)26 June 2019Press reportTier D
TechnipFMC fined $300 mn over Brazil, Iraq bribes
TechnipFMC also used a Monaco-based intermediary company to pass bribes to at least seven officials in Iraq's Ministry of Oil and two companies between 2008 and 2013
Original