Nigeria, the home of advance fee fraudsters, has suffered another blow to its credibility with the news that Shell has been fined for bribing Nigerian customs officials there.

The US Department of Justice has imposed civil and criminal fines of £29,4 million after a company employed by Shell, Pamplina, agreed to plead guilty to charges of bribery. Shell admitted that they “approved of, or condoned the payment of bribes on their behalf in Nigeria”, and also confirmed that the corrupt payments were disguised as legitimate business expenses in their accounts.