British £4.9m Iraqi oil bribery plot man Stuart Whiteley jailed

A British businessman who was involved in a £4.9m bribery plot to win oil deals in Iraq has been jailed.

Stephen Whiteley conspired to pay bribes to state-owned firms and politicians after Saddam Hussein was overthrown after the Gulf War in 2003.

The 65-year-old, from Beverley, East Yorkshire, was involved in a plot to secure contracts worth £650m.

Jailing Whiteley for three years, a judge at Southwark Crown Court said custody was the only option.

Whiteley had previously been convicted of conspiracy to make corrupt payments alongside fellow businessman Ziad Akle, 45.

During their trial, the court was told both men were managers with Monaco-based energy consultancy Unaoil and had conspired to pay bribes to public officials to secure oil contracts for their firm and its clients.

Akle, from Marylebone, London, who is a British-Lebanese national was jailed for five years earlier this month for two counts of conspiracy to make corrupt payments.

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