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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
This time, however, it's the Justice Department that's bringing it up. And while the suit doesn't target Bush, and Bush says he never profited directly from MWI's dealings in Nigeria, it certainly raises questions about the business that made him his fortune.
The suit suggests that MWI and the Nigerian government manufactured the need for MWI equipment in Nigeria. The complaint consistently puts the word "need" in quotation marks when discussing the necessity of pumping equipment in the African nation. As the complaint points out, "MWI was not required to bid or otherwise compete with any other manufacturers to obtain any of its Exim-financed contracts," effectively allowing MWI to set the price without any competition.
Obviously, such a deal would be beneficial for MWI. But why would the Nigerian government want to enter into this deal? The answer is at the heart of the government's case. It claims these loans were improperly used to pay off Nigerian officials to the tune of $28 million. The government charges the bribes were delivered by a Nigerian MWI employee named Alhaji Indimi. According to the government, Indimi "has well-established relationships with high-ranking Nigerian state and federal officials which have provided MWI with the necessary access and opportunity to consummate Exim-supported sales in Nigeria."
The government case cites one occasion when Indimi "carried large quantities of [cash]" to a meeting with Nigerian government officials. "Indimi and the other MWI officers and employees returned to the airport following the meeting without the currency ... MWI officers and employees knew that Indimi was traveling with large quantities of cash, and believed that Indimi intended to and did use the cash to make payments to Nigerian State officials in connection with the MWI Sales to Nigeria," the complaint states.
The complaint calls MWI's payment to Indimi "excessive and highly irregular as to MWI's own commission practices, as well as to normal and customary commissions."
Eller's attorney, William Scherer, has openly admitted that Indimi was paid nearly $28 million from the sale, but denied that money was used to bribe government officials. And he took umbrage with the government's characterization of that payment -- more than 37 percent of the entire $74.3 million deal-- as excessive. "Who says that 30 percent is high (for commissions), especially when you're talking about sales that took a decade to make?" Scherer told the St. Petersburg Times. "That's absolutely and completely defensible."
Bush himself is not implicated in the case. As a partner of Bush-El, he was just the salesman for MWI, and was not directly involved in the alleged fraud of the Exim Bank. And Bush has said repeatedly that he and Eller structured their partnership so that Bush would not profit off of any deals involving funding from U.S. government institutions. Since Bush's father was president at the time, he says he was careful to avoid the appearance of cashing in on government contracts.
What became the government's case against Eller and MWI was a lawsuit originally filed by Robert Purcell, a former vice president of sales for MWI. Purcell filed a separate suit in 1996 claiming MWI and Bush-El cheated him out of promised payments. In that suit, Purcell sought to depose Bush, but Bush's lawyers were able to quash the subpoena because Bush was in the final days of his successful run for governor. As Bush's lawyers pointed out in their successful motion to evade deposition, "whether by mere coincidence or by a tactical legal maneuver, the date on which Mr. Bush is to be deposed falls only 35 days prior to the November election."
Soon after the election, the case was settled out of court. In this latest suit, Purcell stands to make a tidy sum if the government wins its case. The case indicates that the government may seek to recover as much as $220 million from MWI in damages. Under federal whistleblower laws, Purcell stands to gain 25 percent of whatever judgment the government received.
Though Purcell's attorneys have included Bush on the possible list of witnesses to be called in the case, Eller's attorneys maintain that Bush is irrelevant to the case and should not be called to testify. The Bush campaign says it has no reason to believe the governor will be dragged back into the case against MWI.
