The Chateau Overlooking Lake Geneva Was Bought For Peter Bosworth For $31m | Sahara Reporters

Boasting a “superb view over Lake Geneva and the Alps”, seven bedrooms, a cinema room and extensive grounds with tennis courts and a swimming pool, the 19th-century château in Switzerland was advertised as an “exceptional country estate”.

Mr Bosworth and Arcadia, which he left in 2013, both declined to explain the payments when approached by The Times and Finance Uncovered. Royal Dutch Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil major, bought into the block in 2001 but became embroiled in years of ownership disputes with Malabu and the Nigerian government.

It alleges that the companies knew or should have known that Mr Etete had corruptly awarded the block to himself in 1998 and that the deal would result in the payment of bribes and kickbacks to government figures including Goodluck Jonathan, the Nigerian president at the time. The companies also deny wrongdoing, as do Mr Etete and Mr Jonathan.

About $2.5 million of the cash Arcadia received from Rocky Top was set against expenses it attributed to the company, many of which were for Mr Etete. Payment records show Arcadia had been incurring expenses for the former oil minister since at least late 2009 and continued to do so until 2013. These included lengthy stays booked by Mr Bosworth’s personal assistant for Mr Etete at the luxury Le Bristol hotel in Paris, amounting to £174,000 between November 2009 and December 2010.

In an email to Mr Bosworth’s PA, Mr Etete writes: “Pls, tell. Pete. That. Am. Going. Close. The. Transaction. On. Friday. With. Italians. Will. The. Bank. Details. As. Well. As. Original. Acct, opening. Documents. Want. To. Talk. To. Him, pls.”In addition to OPL 245, Arcadia also appears to have been pursuing a potentially significant LPG gas project on land owned by Mr Etete in the Niger Delta, although the project never materialised.

Mr Bosworth confirmed that he knew Mr Etete and had “some knowledge of the OPL 245 transaction”, but said he was not directly involved in it. He said that he had helped Mr Etete with a requested introduction to an international bank, which he believed was in connection with the transaction, and gave Mr Etete “some advice on an informal basis when asked”.

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