Royal Dutch Shell and Italian oil giant Eni have been ordered to stand trial in Milan on charges of aggravated international corruption for their role in a 2011 $1.1bn deal for Nigerian oil block OPL 245. ...Eni [executives and] current [and former] CEO were also ordered to face trial alongside four Royal Dutch Shell staff members... and two former MI6 agents employed by Shell.

No company as large as Royal Dutch Shell or such senior executives of a major oil company have ever stood trial for bribery offences.

The investigation by the Milan public prosecutor was triggered by a complaint filed in Autumn 2013 by Global Witness, The Corner House, Re:Common and Nigerian anti-corruption campaigner Dotun Oloko. The case has also been investigated in Nigeria and the United States following the groups’ complaints. Public prosecutors in The Netherlands are also investigating the case.

“The Nigerian people lost out on over $1 billion dollars, equivalent to the country’s entire health budget, as a result of this corrupt deal. ...said Simon Taylor... of Global Witness

...Nigerian authorities have also filed charges against a Shell subsidiary and Eni as well as several of their staff....The Nigerian government has also issued a billion dollar civil claim against JP Morgan for their role as a banker to the deal. JP Morgan has stated that they consider the allegation against them to be “unsubstantiated and without merit”.