LONDON: British oil company Petrofac pleaded guilty on Monday to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery between October 2011 and May 2017, and was fined £77 million ($105 million, 90 million euros). Petrofac's former global head of sales, who admitted offering $81 million in bribes to secure lucrative Middle East contracts, was spared jail after cooperating with investigators.

A judge at Southwark Crown Court in south London handed the former executive, David Lufkin, 53, a two-year jail term, suspended for 18 months.

He had earlier pleaded guilty to 14 counts of bribery relating to the corrupt payments for contracts worth about $8.4 billion over a six-year period.