(MENAFN) According to a judicial source, French oil giant Total was ordered to face trial over charges of a bribe to Iranian officials in order to acquire oil and gas businesses, AFP reported.
Sources familiar with the matter said that the firm will be charged with "corruption of foreign public officials". In 2013, the French firm was forced to pay US authorities USD398 million in fines over the charges.
The US Justice Department said that Total intermediaries paid Iranian officials to obtain the rights to develop several oil and gas fields. The charges concern alleged bribes made to officials in the 1990s and 2000s.
Former Total chief executive, who was head of director of Total's Middle East department at the time of the alleged bribes, was last month ordered to stand trial over the affair.
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