Briton facing oil-for-food sentence

The Press Association 
Original Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5h-pOEolTDtvfpenwSnN4OEaa6Daw http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5h-pOEolTDtvfpenwSnN4OEaa6Daw
A British businessman is due to be sentenced in a US court for his role in the UN oil-for-food scandal.
John Irving, 54, pleaded guilty in April to aiding and abetting illegal oil imports despite knowing that kickbacks had been paid to the Saddam Hussein regime in the process.
Following a plea bargain reached with prosecutors, it is expected that Irving will face a sentence of up to six months imprisonment.
His defence team had previously indicated they expected their client to serve no time in jail.
The Hampshire-based businessman was among a number of oil traders charged in 2005 with conspiracy to commit fraud and engaging in banned transactions with the Saddam regime.
It relates to secret surcharges placed on oil contracts under the UN programme. Prosecutors had alleged that at least several hundred million dollars made its way to government officials through front companies and bank accounts between 2000 and 2003 as a result. At the time of the alleged offence Irving worked as an oil trader with Bayoil.
Employees of the company agreed to pay inflated commission prices during oil transactions with the knowledge and expectation that kickbacks would be paid to officials in the Saddam regime, according to the 2005 charge sheet.
In April, Irving pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting the import of merchandise into the US contrary of law. The charge carries a maximum prison term of 20 years. But the judge has been recommended a sentence guide of up to six months imprisonment under the agreement reached with prosecutors.
Irving has admitted that in June 2002 he assisted in the import of crude oil from Iraq into the US even though he received information a year earlier that the contractor was paying illegal surcharges to the Saddam regime.
Irving is due to be sentenced at hearing at the Southern District Court of New York.