Weatherford International Settles U.S. Foreign Bribe Probes

Weatherford International Ltd., a Geneva-based oil services company, agreed to pay almost $253 million to settle U.S. allegations it bribed officials in Congo and Iraq and violated sanctions against countries including Iran, Syria and Cuba.

Three Weatherford units will plead guilty under deferred-prosecution agreements with U.S. prosecutors and the company settled a lawsuit by the Securities and Exchange Commission in federal court in Houston. From 2002 to July 2011, Weatherford “authorized bribes and improper travel and entertainment” to win or keep contracts that produced more than $59 million in profit, the SEC said in its complaint.