DAMMAM — Legal sources said internal action to terminate the services of Saudi Aramco employees implicated in a bribery case involving the American company Tyco Valves and Controls will not affect the oil giant's statutory rights. Tyco Valves and Controls, which markets industrial equipment throughout the Middle East, pleaded guilty last week in a US court to paying bribes to officials employed by Saudi Aramco in order to obtain contracts with the Saudi oil and gas company. Saudi Aramco has suspended further dealings with the company and launched its owns investigations. As part of its internal probe, Saudi Aramco will ask Tyco to provide it with the names of its employees who received the bribes. The legal sources said the public prosecutor will handle the case when the Control and Investigation Board (CIB) finishes its investigations and decides who should face prosecution. Currently Saudi Aramco is completing its internal inquiries into deals concluded between the two companies from 2003 to 2006 and investigating the employees suspected of taking bribes to complete the agreements. Legal experts said even if employees found to be involved in the suspect deals are sacked, the company can still refer them to courts of law to stand trial, adding this would enable the company to retain its rights. They said the nature of the relationship between Saudi Aramco and Tyco will shape the course of any legal action. If the contract signed by the two sides stipulates that the settlement of any disputes will be through the local courts, then Saudi Aramco will proceed to these courts. However, if it stipulates any arbitration will take place in international courts, the company is obliged to go through them. The sources said the company is now concentrating on completing its internal auditing and investigations of deals made from 2003 to 2006 between the two companies, especially after a government decision that ordered the revision of all the deals. They said the decision, which stopped Aramco from dealing with Tyco, was a crucial step to prove the oil company's credibility and determination to go ahead with legal proceedings. Khaled Al-Salih, Saudi Aramco's legal adviser, confirmed to Okaz/Saudi Gazette that investigations are being conducted internally, but concrete evidence of bribes being accepted in the suspect deals has not been uncovered yet. He added: “It should also be taken into consideration that the internal committees are not official bodies, thus their conclusions are neither final nor taken for granted. “The final say lies with the CIB and the Investigation and Prosecution Bureau because by law they are the only two legal bodies authorized to look into all the documents. “In addition, they have the necessary legal experience that will help them to uncover all the facts.” Ahmed Al-Auzali, a legal adviser, said investigations fall under the jurisdiction of the CIB and will investigate employees who are proven by the company's internal investigations to have been involved in any suspect deals. He said when the board completes its investigations and decides there is a case against the suspects, it will refer the entire case to the prosecutor general.
