Shell says the alcohol never existed. On the other hand, if it did exist, they have already paid for it as part of a full and final settlement with OSSL who, in addition to being bootleggers, may also be blackmailers demanding money from Shell over a bribery scheme.
THE AUDIO OF THE COVERTLY RECORDED CONSULTATION BETWEEN OSSL AND MR MARC FITZGIBBON OF THE LAVELLE LAW FIRM DUBLIN IS NOW ACCESSIBLE BELOW. APOLOGIES FOR SOME OF THE LANGUAGE USED BY MR DESMOND KANE.
By John Donovan
Subject to any technical glitch or legal challenge, I intend to publish on the Internet within a few days, a number of items of evidence relating to the OSSL corruption allegations against the Shell led Corrib Gas Consortium in Ireland.
The allegations include bulk delivery of free alcohol to senior Irish Police Officers by way of an extremely generous Christmas gift from the Consortium venture, which involves Shell, Statoil and Vermilion.
Some might call it a bribe.
OSSL, a small local company admitted purchasing the alcohol in Northern Ireland, transporting it across the border and handing it over to the Garda. All on the instructions of named individuals at Shell.
The senior police officers who helped unload it remain strangely silent on the matter.
Shell says the alcohol never existed. On the other hand, if it did exist, they have already paid for it as part of a full and final settlement with OSSL who, in addition to being bootleggers, may also be blackmailers demanding money from Shell over a bribery scheme.
During the several years that this sleazy activity was in progress, also implicating the main contractor Roadbridge, OSSL acted as agents for the Shell led consortium.
This scandal seems to have it all, except drugs and sex. A slush fund. Disguised invoices. False witness statements. All manner of bribes to smooth the path of the troubled project and trample on protesters.
The Garda officers and Shell managers involved in the bribery activity seem to be suffering from a rare example of extended collective amnesia.
These are some of the items I intend to make accessible online in the hope of finding a cure.
- A letter marked “Private & Confidential” dated 21 October 2014 sent to Desmond Kane of OSSL by his solicitor Mr Marc Fitzgibbon of Lavelle, the Dublin law firm. The letter details telephone calls Lavelle has received from Shell requesting a conference call with Mr Fitzgibbon, to include several Shell staff, including specifically Michael Crothers, the CEO of Irish Shell. The various calls suggest that the existence of the covertly recorded consultation with Marc Fitzgibbon, in which the subject of alcohol given to the Irish police was raised over 60 times, triggered a panicked response from Shell. All of this fuss over alcohol that never existed.
- The 42 minute covertly recorded consultation between Mr Fitzgibbon, representing Lavelle, and Mr Desmond Kane and Neil Rooney representing OSSL (conversation starts at 1:00 minute).
- An associated transcript of the covertly recorded consultation. Some of the more interesting parts are highlighted in red text.
- A related email from Marc Fitzgibbon about the non-existent police alcohol.
- An email to Mr Kane from Mr Andy Sanderson, a senior manager from Statoil dated 5 November 2014 concerning his recent contact with Lavelle. Mr Sanderson seems to have engaged in a degree of contortion before deciding the safest thing to say is that Shell is acting on Statoil’s behalf. I wonder if that is wise.
I am sure Shell will find the content of the recorded discussion to be of great interest, including the confirmation that OSSL refused to sign a non disclosure agreement as part of the full and final settlement.
I have been in contact with every TD on this matter and have already received some replies. It seems that the issue may be raised once again in the Irish Parliament. Last time questions were answered by the then Justice Minister Alan Shatter before his sudden resignation relating to the scandal ridden Garda. Surreptitious recordings seem to be endemic in Ireland. This time answers would come from his replacement, to whom I have already supplied the recording and the transcript.
I have received requests from the Irish news media for access to the covert recording, so that demand will also be met by my online publication plan.
I will also contact every Irish Senator once all of the information/evidence is readily accessible on the Internet.
If I do not receive confirmation that action is being taken by the Irish authorities to investigate, I will report the matter to the Dutch police, bearing in mind the confrontations by OSSL at two successive AGM’s held on Dutch soil and the fact that Shell’s HQ is located in The Hague, where countless demands for money have been sent by OSSL in respect of the alcohol, which Shell falsely claims, never existed.
