Seven Dutch firms have reached an out of court settlement about claims that they broke the rules of the UN’s oil for food programme, the public prosecution department said in a statement on Tuesday.

The companies all paid bribes to win contracts in Iraq during the trade embargo. The kickbacks, equivalent to 10% of the contract value, went to the Iraqi regime.
In total, the companies paid €1.3m in, the department said. Former Akzo Nobel division Organon paid the biggest fine of €381,602.