Transparency International has apparently decided that it will take money from all comers.
The international anti-corruption group opened the door last year when it applied to Siemens for millions of dollars of funding.
And last December, the Italian oil and gas multinational Eni announced a joint project with Transparency International to study corruption in the private sector.
How much is Eni paying for the privilege to engage with the anti-corruption fighter?
That would be a cool $343,000 over two years, according to Transparency International spokesperson Chris Sanders.
Transparency International’s own guidelines prohibit it from any association with a corporation that is using Transparency International to “greenwash the company’s performance.”
“If any corporate donor is accused of having been involved in corruption, the donor can expect no protection from TI,” according to an internal document obtained by Corporate Crime Reporter. “TI would not accept a donation from a company that was found to have engaged in corruption unless the company could demonstrate that this was a violation of the company’s policies, and that breach of these policies was being addressed in an appropriate manner.”
How does Eni stack up?
In October 2013, Transparency International reported (page 53 of the report) that four Eni executives were under investigation for suspected bribes in Algeria, and that the company was under investigation for allegedly paying bribes to public officials in Kazakhstan to obtain access to an oilfield.
In a 2012 report by Transparency, Eni received one of the lowest scores measuring how well it reports financial data on a country-by-country basis (1.3 out of 100).
Among the NGOs that monitors Eni is Global Witness, which is a partner with Transparency International in the Financial Transparency Coalition.
In February 2013 the Coalition published an article by Global Witness alleging that Eni and Shell made a $1.1 billion payment that ended up in the accounts of a company controlled by a corrupt former Nigerian Oil Minister.
British police are reportedly investigating the payment.
In 2010 Eni and its Dutch subsidiary Snamprogetti Netherlands entered into a deferred prosecution agreement and paid a $240 million criminal penalty to settle a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act case stemming from Snamprogetti’s role in the TSKJ-Nigeria natural gas joint venture.
Earlier this month, on May 8, Eni shareholders blocked a proposal to add an ethics clause to the company bylaws that would have forced managers indicted of certain financial crimes to resign.
“First it’s Siemens, and now it’s Eni — another shady company that Transparency International itself admits is shady,” said a Transparency International insider who asked not to be identified. “Transparency International is so desperate for money that it has almost completely abandoned its own standards, principles and values. What’s next?”
Transparency International refuses to release its due diligence reports on Siemens and Eni.