UK considering charges in KBR JV probe-Halliburton

* Probe related to $180 mln in bribes for Nigeria project

* UK investigation has run 3 years, U.S. settled this year

By Braden Reddall

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Britain's Serious Fraud
Office is considering civil claims or criminal prosecution in
its probe into a Nigerian bribe scheme in which former
Halliburton (HAL.N) unit KBR Inc (KBR.N) has already pleaded
guilty, Halliburton said on Friday.

The SFO has been investigating a UK-based KBR joint venture
that held a stake in KBR's multinational consortium which was
involved in the bribery scheme.

Houston-based engineering firm KBR pleaded guilty in
February to U.S. charges that it paid $180 million in bribes
between 1994 and 2004 to Nigerian officials to secure $6
billion in contracts.

KBR admitted to paying the bribes for the TSKJ consortium
-- France's Technip SA (TECF.PA), Italy's Snamprogetti
(SPMI.MI), KBR and Japan's JGC Corp (1963.T) -- to secure
contracts for the Bonny Island liquefied natural gas terminal.

A quarterly filing with financial regulators from
Halliburton on Friday said the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is
considering making claims "under various United Kingdom laws"
in its investigation of M.W. Kellogg Ltd -- a UK joint venture
55 percent owned by KBR that held part of its TSKJ share.

Halliburton, which indemnified KBR for some past
liabilities when the companies split in 2007, said SFO findings
of UK law violations could result in "fines, restitution and
confiscation of revenues, among other penalties, some of which
could be subject to our indemnification obligations."

The SFO investigation is three years old, but Halliburton
did not mention possible UK charges or fines in past filings.

A spokeswoman for Halliburton declined to comment further.

Halliburton's indemnity for M.W. Kellogg is limited to 55
percent of any penalties, the company said, adding that the
SFO's decision on charges rested on many factors, including
whether the UK joint venture knew of any payments.

The bribes -- some delivered in a briefcase stuffed with
$100 bills -- were paid to officials in Nigeria's executive
branch as well as the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum
Corp, the U.S. Justice Department found.

The scheme involved money wired through banks in Amsterdam
and New York to accounts in Switzerland and Monaco, and KBR
used shell companies in Portugal in an effort to avoid breaking
U.S. laws, the U.S. government said.

Halliburton has said it is also aware of Bonny Island
investigations in France, Nigeria and Switzerland.

KBR and Halliburton agreed with the Justice Department to
pay a $402 million fine, with Halliburton paying $382 million.
Halliburton agreed with the Securities and Exchange Commission
to disgorge $177 million in profits to settle parallel criminal
charges that KBR violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

The SEC has said the $579 million is the highest combined
settlement ever paid by U.S. companies under the FCPA. German
engineering conglomerate Siemens (SIEGn.DE) paid $800 million
to U.S. officials to settle claims that it violated the act.
(Reporting by Braden Reddall, editing by Matthew Lewis)