Amec Foster Wheeler plc – Investigation on Behalf of Investors
Kehoe Law Firm’s securities attorneys are investigating potential claims on behalf of investors of Amec Foster Wheeler plc (NASDAQ:AMFW) involving possible securities law violations.
On July 11, 2017, Amec Foster Wheeler disclosed that it was being investigated by the U.K.’s Serious Fraud Office for “past use of third parties and possible bribery and corruption and related offenses.”
Following this news, Amec Foster Wheeler’s share price fell by 4.57% on July 11, 2017. The company’s shares fell an additional 2.3% on July 12, 2017, causing significant harm to investors.
Amec Foster Wheeler Investigated by The Serious Fraud Office
As reported on July 11, 2017 in The Telegraph:
Amec Foster Wheeler is being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office over its dealings with Unaoil over possible bribery and corruption through payments to middlemen.
The energy support services group rushed out a regulatory announcement on Tuesday evening confirming the formal launch of a probe by the watchdog.
In May the company signalled it could be in the SFO’s sights in documents relating to its £2.2bn merger with peer Wood Group.
Circulars detailing risks to deal revealed that a Wood Group business “engaged Unaoil and that the joint venture made payments to Unaoil under agency agreements”.
Agency agreements are widely understood to mean payments to third parties which can be used to pay bribes, though there is no indication that this happened with Wood’s joint venture.
The Telegraph also reported:
Unaoil is at the centre of a global corruption scandal with allegations that it paid bribes to secure deals. Petrofac has already been dragged into the scandal with its executives questioned by the SFO, though the company has said previously it has not found any evidence of wrongdoing.
Wood Group has said it [is] conducting an internal investigation into its dealings with Unaoil and relevant local regulators and prosecutors had been informed.
In the merger documents it said it had not “confirmed that the payments made… to Unaoil were used by Unaoil in ways that would amount to bribery, corruption or money laundering offences, or that there was any involvement in or knowledge of bribery, corruption or money laundering offences on the part of Wood Group companies, the joint venture or their personnel”.
If the investigations turn into full-scale prosecutions they could result in heavy fines which could deal a huge blow to the merged Amec-Wood business. . . .
Have You Purchased or Acquired Shares of Amec Foster Wheeler?
If you purchased or acquired shares of Amec Foster Wheeler and would like to speak privately with a securities attorney to learn more about the investigation and your potential legal rights, please fill out the form to the right or contact John Kehoe, Esq., (215) 792-6676, Ext. 801, [email protected]; Michael Yarnoff, Esq., (215) 792-6676, Ext. 804, [email protected]; or send an e-mail to [email protected].
About Kehoe Law Firm, P.C.
The Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. is a multidisciplinary, plaintiff–side law firm dedicated to protecting investors and consumers from corporate fraud, negligence, and other wrongdoing. Driven by a strong and principled sense of social responsibility and obtaining justice for the aggrieved, Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. represents plaintiffs seeking to recover investment losses resulting from securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, corporate wrongdoing or malfeasance, those harmed by anticompetitive practices, and consumers victimized by fraud, false claims, deception or data breaches. Together, the partners of the Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. have spent more than 30 years prosecuting precedent-setting securities and financial fraud cases in federal and state courts on behalf of institutional and individual clients.