US, UK and Swiss investigations into Romanian-Australian businessman Frank Timis in connection with the concession to exploit oil and gas fields in Senegal in 2014 have been dropped, according to Africa Intelligence.
The investigations were launched in 2020 after Frank Timis was accused of illegally obtaining the concession to exploit two gas fields in Senegal. The concession was subsequently sold to the British oil company British Petroleum (BP).
Investigations into Frank Timis in the United States, Britain and Switzerland have all been dropped
The investigations by the US Department of Justice and the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) were dropped in January this year and July 2024 without any official announcement.
Contacted by Africa Intelligence journalists, the US authorities did not comment.
The UK SFO said it would neither confirm nor deny the existence of investigations targeting Timis.
In addition to the United States and the United Kingdom, the businessman, who has been living in Lucerne, Switzerland, since 2017, has also come under the attention of Swiss federal justice in connection with the case.
The investigation was initiated by prosecutor Gérard Sautebin. But that has also been closed. The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland told Africa Intelligence that "after carrying out the necessary investigations, the OAG issued a closure order in January 2024 in connection with the criminal proceedings against unknown persons".
Timis welcomed the decision to drop the proceedings but is concerned about its issues with Senegalese tax authorities.
The formal tax notice Timis received at the end of 2024 is currently an administrative proceeding.
A document from the Senegalese tax authority, dated December 27, 2024 and entitled "automatic tax notice", obliges Timis Corporation to pay 159 billion CFA francs (€240 million). Tax inspectors believe the amount corresponds to arrears accumulated by the company, which is well known in the Senegalese business world.
Talks with BP in 2019
At the request of the British Petroleum, Senegal's president at the time (2019) Macky Sall, agreed to meet and discuss with Frank Timis and his partner Aliou Sal, according to Africa Intelligence.
BP Group CEO Bob Dudley seized the opportunity. While in New York to attend the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Senegalese President Macky Sall agreed to meet the oil company's CEO on September 24, ahead of his imminent replacement by Bernard Looney.
According to Africa Intelligence , the meeting centered largely on a report published in June 2019 about alleged sums that the businessman, the president's brother Frank Timis and his partner Aliou Sall may have earned from the exploitation of the BP-operated Tortue gas field.
President Sall blamed Dudley for the minimal efforts made by his group to defend the Senegalese government as it faced a wave of criticism from civil society and local media.
BP's only move was to issue a press statement claiming that the amount of royalties the BBC claimed Timis and Sall could get from the project was "absurd".