Texas oilman charged with bribing Saddam
Oct. 21, 2005 at 10:01PM
A Houston oil tycoon was charged Friday with paying kickbacks to Saddam Hussein, taking advantage of the United Nations oil-for-food program.
Oscar Wyatt Jr., former chairman of Coastal Corp., was arrested at his home and released on bail after appearing before a federal magistrate, the Houston Chronicle reported. He is to appear in New York next week for arraignment.
Wyatt allegedly conspired with David Chalmers of BayOil, who was indicted last year, and two Swiss business executives. Federal prosecutors say Wyatt transmitted payments to bank accounts controlled by Saddam Hussein, who was allowed to pick Iraq's customers in the program, although the United Nations set the price.
"The oil-for-food program was designed to provide humanitarian relief to the Iraqi people; these defendants undermined those relief efforts to line their own pockets with oil profits," Michael Garcia, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement after Wyatt's arrest.
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