by: Edvard Pettersson
A lawsuit brought in the U.S. by Petroleos Mexicanos, alleging bribery of its officials by Siemens AG (SIE) and SK Engineering & Construction Co., was dismissed because the case had no domestic links.
U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton in Manhattan yesterday threw out the complaint by Mexico’s state-owned oil company against the German and South Korean companies, which had been partners on a refinery modernization project.
“The RICO claims here are extra-territorial: they allege a foreign conspiracy against a foreign victim conducted by foreign defendants participating in foreign enterprises,” Stanton said in his decision.
Pemex, in a complaint filed in December, said Siemens and SK bribed Pemex officials while bidding on the project in Mexico’s Cadereyta region. After the venture won the contract in 1997, the project was plagued by cost overruns and construction disputes, leading the defendants paid more bribes to keep the contract, Pemex claimed.
The case is Petroleos Mexicanos v. Conproca SA de CV, 12-cv-9070, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
This article was written byEdvard Pettersson and originally published on bloomberg
