Petrofac shares crashed on Thursday morning amid news that a former company executive pleaded guilty to bribery amid investigations brought forward by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).
David Lufkin, previously Petrofac’s former global head of sales, pleaded guilty to involvement in payments made to secure a contract. The payments involve a $330 million contract on the Badra oilfield in Iraq.
In a statement, the company also confirmed the news, noting that other individuals associated with the firm had allegedly to have acted alongside Lufkin.
However, the company emphasised that ‘no current Board member of Petrofac Limited is alleged to have been involved.’
René Médori, Chairman of Petrofac, commented on the incident:
“The SFO has chosen to bring charges against a former employee of a subsidiary company. It has deliberately not chosen to charge any Group company or any other officer or employee. In the absence of any charge or credible evidence, Petrofac intends as a matter of policy to stand by its employees.”
“Petrofac has policies and procedures in place designed to ensure that we operate at the highest levels of compliance and ethics.”
Petrofac is an oil and gas services provider company. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE-250 Index.
The firm has 31 offices around the world and approximately 12,750 staff.
Shares in the firm (LON:PFC) are currently down -29.95% as of 12:24PM (GMT).