1) Yes the alleged payments of bribes to Nigerian government officials by Jeffrey Tesler would be considered facilitating payments under the terms of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or also known as FCPA is against the bribery of foreign officials, essentially government officials in an attempt to reduce corruption and money laundering through the global financial system. Corrupt political officials and those in high army office were targeted with a view to preventing government officials from exploiting their positions to gain unfair commercial advantage. Tesler had long-standing relations with some 20 to 30 senior Nigeria government and military officials. Also Tesler promised to funnel big sums of money to the Nigerian government officials if the deal was done, meaning if KBR won the contract with Dan Etete. I believe the hand written notes, taken by Chodan, a Kellogg executive documenting a meeting between him and Tesler about channeling $40 million of Tesler’s $60 million payment from KBR to General Abacha is proof enough to show bribery. Tesler should be prosecuted under the FCPA.

2) I could go either way on this question. Personally I don’t think KBR should have gotten anyone involved to do their bidding for them. If they knew they were going up against another company and the bid they submitted for the initial contract was lower than that company, KBR could have figured out another way to consulate with their client. But then I can see why KBR asked British lawyer Jeffrey Tesler to step in. Not only was KBR deep in final negotiations in the contract, its original customer had a falling out with the country’s military dictator and the new dictator did not want to play fair. The company could have used Tesler for advice on how to deal with Nigerian officials, but they could have also used the $60 million they paid