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PA PLEA AGREEMENT INCLUDES $4.9 MILLION FINE

Release Date: 08/21/98
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FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 1998

PLEA AGREEMENT INCLUDES $4.9 MILLION FINE

Saybolt Inc., a leading firm in the petroleum inspection industry, and its parent corporation, Saybolt North America Inc., agreed to plead guilty to a variety of charges on August 18, in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts in Boston. Saybolt agreed to pay a total of $4.9 million in fines and serve five years probation. Saybolt Inc., is part of a multinational group of companies whose primary business is to conduct testing of bulk commodities such as petroleum, gasoline and other petrochemicals. Saybolt admitted to conspiracy and a pattern of falsifying test results on petroleum products. In addition, Saybolt and Saybolt North America pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for an arrangement in 1995 to pay a $50,000 bribe to a Panamanian official to obtain favorable treatment for Saybolt’s operations in Panama. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division and EPA’s National Enforcement Investigations Center.

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