and 2004 . The firm pleaded guilty to foreign bribery charges in the United States last year and paid a $ 402 million criminal fine , the U.S. Justice Department said . KBR and Halliburton also paid $ 177 million to settle civil complaints related to the bribery , the Justice Department said . Investigations in Nigeria , however , have been ongoing , and there are allegations that the bribes went all the way to the top , to aides , officials and possibly then-President Olusegun Obasanjo . Many observers in Nigeria regard the move as a publicity stunt by the commission ahead of national elections in April and as a symbolic effort to display resolve against government corruption . The agency has had limited success in getting successful prosecutions and has n't charged any high-profile people since its top commissioner was removed from the body in 2007 . Cheney 's atttorney has said that there is no reason to suspect that his client is guilty . `` This matter involves the activities of an international four-company joint venture -LRB- which included KBR , then a subsidiary of Halliburton -RRB- well over a decade ago , '' Terrence O'Connell
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Charges of bribery against former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and Halliburton by Nigeria 's anti-corruption police may be dropped after an agreement to pay a $ 250 million fine . `` Discussions focus on the possibility of a plea bargain arrangement , '' said Femi Babafemi , a spokesman for Nigeria 's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission . `` Allowing the company and former officials to pay heavy fines in lieu of prosecution ... they would pay $ 120 million as fines and $ 130 million from bad money stored in Switzerland from the original deal -- so $ 250 million in total . '' This month , the commission charged Cheney -- who ran Halliburton in the 1990s -- and nine others with `` conspiracy and distribution of gratification to public officials . '' The investigation is part of a long-running case involving Halliburton and a subsidiary firm , Kellogg , Brown and Root , over alleged bribes paid to Nigerian officials to secure $ 6 billion worth of contracts for a liquefied natural gas project in the Niger Delta . The bribes are said to have amounted to $ 180 million between 1994