May 27, 2026 · 52 min · 10 segments
Listen to the riveting first-hand story of a Unaoil executive who found himself at the center of a bribery scheme. This episode was originally published in 16 August 2017.
Um, do I need to? I think everybody does.
So my goal now is to look at consulting for companies to help them steer them clear of activities that, is it really worth it? Is it really worth the aggravation for them to get involved by paying, uh, a national or even an IOC or even a oil company back here.
Doesn't, and we, we shouldn't even talk about just oil companies.
Yeah.
We should talk about the hotel industry building new hotels, the manufacturing industry.
Everything that's tied to money, there's a possibility it's gonna cost you.
Um, I mean, even when they, when I did that documentary, uh, for the BBC, they talked about Rolls-Royce, and they had their own law- lawyer in London to identify and explain bribery.
It, it was right down to buying their client a leather jacket, and they called that bribery.
The compliance profession can sometimes, and I'm guilty of this myself, it can sometimes get a little too far down in the weeds.
Certainly.
And I mean, of, of course, the cumulative effect of lavish gifts-
Yeah
... that sort of thing is, is worrying.
Uh, but if you have a compliance team back at headquarters worried about an expensive bottle of wine and then business development people on the front lines worried about envelopes full of cash, those two parties need to have a conversation.
Let's im- imagine we've put you in front of a company doing business in some of the most challenging parts of the world.
Sure.
Because you've worked in those-
Yeah
...
in those places.
Is your overarching theme you just can't work in some places without paying bribes, or is the theme you have to make it clear from the outset? Or what do you say to people? You've got a new business development guy heading into a place like Angola or-
Yeah
...
W- what advice do you have for them?
Um, do I need to? I think everybody does.
So my goal now is to look at consulting for companies to help them steer them clear of activities that, is it really worth it? Is it really worth the aggravation for them to get involved by paying, uh, a national or even an IOC or even a oil company back here.
Doesn't, and we, we shouldn't even talk about just oil companies.
Yeah.
We should talk about the hotel industry building new hotels, the manufacturing industry.
Everything that's tied to money, there's a possibility it's gonna cost you.
Um, I mean, even when they, when I did that documentary, uh, for the BBC, they talked about Rolls-Royce, and they had their own law- lawyer in London to identify and explain bribery.
It, it was right down to buying their client a leather jacket, and they called that bribery.
The compliance profession can sometimes, and I'm guilty of this myself, it can sometimes get a little too far down in the weeds.
Certainly.
And I mean, of, of course, the cumulative effect of lavish gifts-
Yeah
... that sort of thing is, is worrying.
Uh, but if you have a compliance team back at headquarters worried about an expensive bottle of wine and then business development people on the front lines worried about envelopes full of cash, those two parties need to have a conversation.
Let's im- imagine we've put you in front of a company doing business in some of the most challenging parts of the world.
Sure.
Because you've worked in those-
Yeah
...
in those places.
Is your overarching theme you just can't work in some places without paying bribes, or is the theme you have to make it clear from the outset? Or what do you say to people? You've got a new business development guy heading into a place like Angola or-
Yeah
...
W- what advice do you have for them?
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