Spreading like kudzu?
Late Friday, KBR, which Halliburton (HAL) has been talking about spinning off for much of 2006, filed its latest amended S-1. The filing, which weighed in at 358 pages, was nearly 100 pages longer than the amended S-1 filed just before Memorial Day weekend. But one of the things that popped out — thanks to help from 10k Wizard’s Compare Wizard feature — was this little item:
In addition, information recently uncovered suggests that, prior to 1998, plans may have been made by employees of The M.W. Kellogg Company to make payments to government officials in connection with the pursuit of a number of other projects in countries outside of Nigeria. Additionally, Halliburton has suspended the services of an agent that has served on projects outside of Nigeria and is actively reviewing compliance of an additional agent used in connection with a separate Nigerian project.
For those who haven’t been following this story all that closely, it’s the words "other projects in countries outside of Nigeria" that is new here. Indeed, Halliburton’s most recent filing on the subject — the Q it filed on July 28 — is a bit more circumspect, only mentioning that subpoenas have been issued "in connection with multiple projects over the last 20 years located both in and outside of Nigeria" but there’s nothing about payments being made in other countries outside of Nigeria. Also new in the Friday filing is the disclosure of issues with a second separate agent in Nigeria.
What to make of this latest disclosure? A quick skim of both Halliburton and KBR’s recent filings shows that the whole thing is pretty complicated and subject to numerous investigations both here and overseas. The KBR IPO has already been delayed and according to this Marketwatch story is now scheduled for April "dependent on market conditions". The real question for Halliburton investors is just how quickly the kudzu will grow between now and then.
UPDATE: Earlier today, I learned that David A. Smith, the former Halliburton employee who is alleging a cover-up at the company quoted footnoted.org in his latest SEC filing. So instead of writing about what’s buried in the filings, footnoted.org actually appears in one. Smith even suggests that Congress form a Kudzu Committee. Talk about turning the tables!
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September 26th, 2006 at 10:27 am
What a dif a middle initial can make!
Ex-Halliburton worker calls for probe
Friday , September 22, 2006 17:14 ET
By Staff Reporter
DALLAS, Sep 23, 2006 (XFN-ASIA via COMTEX) — A former Halliburton Co. employee wants Congress to investigate what he claims are the company’s efforts to cover up violations of corruption laws and to mislead investigators.
David A. Smith, who worked for Halliburton’s Kellogg, Brown & Root unit, said that he received e-mails from a company attorney on how to handle federal investigations, but those notes were intended for David R. Smith, a vice president with Halliburton’s tax group.
The e-mails, he said, focused on how the Houston oil field services conglomerate would defend itself against a federal review of bribery and corruption charges connected to Halliburton’s natural gas operations in Nigeria.
David A. Smith, who says he owns a single share of company’s common stock, filed a statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday, saying David R. Smith “was being asked to weigh in on how to explain away the source of the bribes paid to Nigerian officials.”
In the e-mail, “the attorneys (both in-house and external) were weighing in on how to mount a legal defense, and how to keep the DOJ and SEC thrown off the scent,” he wrote.
The company has disclosed in prior regulatory filings that it is cooperating with the SEC and the Justice Department in their review of possible violations to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
David A. Smith declined to provide The Associated Press with copies of the e-mails or name the attorney who sent the note, saying he was concerned about interfering with the Justice Department’s investigation.
“It’s safe to say, it would be unwise for (Halliburton) to paint me or portray me as a liar,” Smith said Friday. “I’m telling the truth; this really did happen. I’ve got my ducks in a row to back me up.”
Halliburton spokeswoman Cathy Mann said in an e-mail statement that Smith’s allegations are “completely without merit.”
David A. Smith said he received the e-mails when he worked for Halliburton in Virginia as a contracted employee for nearly two years through August 2003, when his contract was not renewed. He said he worked in the company’s government proposals group, which oversaw federal, state and local requests for proposals.
Smith told The AP he received the e-mails in the fall and winter of 2002 and talked with the Department of Justice about them in 2004.
He said he was going public with the matter now because he believes he made a mistake in not going public with it in 2004.
Smith, 34, who works as an independent consultant, currently is helping to write a textbook on corporate governance.
Halliburton’s Mann said the company does not allow unethical business practices and provides a toll free hot line for employees to report concerns.
“If he was so concerned about this information, we question why he did not raise the issue by means made available to him in the Code of Conduct information,” Mann wrote in an e-mail.
Halliburton, whose chief executive was Vice President Dick Cheney from 1995 to 2000, has been criticized since the beginning of the war in Iraq for multibillion-dollar government contracts.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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September 27th, 2006 at 8:29 am
I wish to thank the Footnoted.org writers for running this item, which I block quoted in my SEC filing yesterday: http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/45012/000126947606000006/0001269476-06-000006-index.htm
Thank you for your vigilance!
- David A. Smith
(not to be confused with David R. Smith, VP of Tax at Halliburton)