Another gem from the report on the Minerals Management Service (MMS) released this morning by the Department of the Interior inspector general:
We showed this former MMS inspector an e-mail dated April 6, 2006, in which he told an employee with Conoco Phillips, that he had accepted gifts from certain “good friends” in the oil and gas industry. The e-mail chain began with the inspector sending the Conoco Phillips employee an e-mail with the subject line, “Civil Penalty Case recaps – 1st quarter 2006.” He stated, “These are the fines that we assessed to different companies for breaking the rules.” The Conoco Phillips employee responded, “[E]ver get bribed for some of that?” He replied, “They try all the time.” The Conoco Phillips employee responded back, “[E]ver take em?” the inspector said, “I accept ‘gifts’ from certain people. But we have VERY strict ethic standards as you could imagine.” The Conoco Phillips employee replied, “[C]ertain people, meaning women?” the inspector said, “No. meaning good friends that I wouldn’t write up anyway.”
-- Bryan Rahija
Comments