Algeria: Saipem case advances

An Italian court will try six defendants in December on charges related to Saipem’s payment of €198m in bribes to secure approximately €8bn worth of contacts in Algeria. The most significant among the accused is the alleged go-between in the affair, Farid Bedjaoui, for whom Interpol has issued a red notice saying that he is wanted for “criminal associations leading to corruption”. He will be tried in absentia with two other Algerians. Three Italian senior Saipem executives will be in the dock, but the company’s country manager at the time will not, as he has struck a deal with prosecutors.