The Serious Fraud Office faces yet another appeal in relation to its Unaoil investigation with a third former oil executive challenging his conviction for bribery.
Stephen Whiteley, formerly Unaoil’s territory manager for Iraq, was jailed for three years in July 2020 for allegedly paying over $500,000 in bribes to secure a multi-million pound oil infrastructure contract after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.
But the Court of Appeal has since quashed two of the four convictions the SFO obtained in relation to its Unaoil investigation over ‘serious’ disclosure failures and ‘wholly inappropriate’ contacts with David Tinsley, a former US Drug Enforcement Administration agent acting on behalf of the Ahsanis, the family which owned and controlled Unaoil.
In March, Paul Bond – who worked for a company called Single Buoy Moorings and was jailed for three-and-a-half years – had his bribery conviction overturned, months after the conviction of former Unaoil executive Ziad Akle – who was jailed for five years – was quashed.
Whiteley’s lawyers today announced that they have filed an appeal on the basis that the Court of Appeal’s findings also render his conviction unsafe.
Sam Healey, a partner at JMW Solicitors, said: ‘I can confirm that Stephen Whiteley has submitted an appeal against his conviction. The lengthy investigation by the SFO, with which he co-operated fully, and the trial into his alleged wrongdoing at Unaoil cast a dark cloud over his life for several years and his health has suffered considerably as a consequence.
‘The quashing of Mr Akle’s conviction, and now that of Mr Bond, due to the refusal of the SFO to disclose material to the defence, we believe also makes Mr Whiteley’s conviction unsafe.’
An SFO spokesperson said in a statement to Reuters: ‘We won’t stop fighting serious fraud, bribery and corruption. Our investigation into Unaoil uncovered the payment of $17m in bribes that were paid to win contracts worth $1.7bn in Iraq. We are aware of Mr Whiteley’s appeal and are considering our next steps.’
News of Whiteley’s appeal comes on the same day that a review of the SFO’s disclosure failures, which was announced by the attorney general after Akle’s successful appeal, has been delayed by a month.
