Share: The Supreme Court of Cassation has upheld the acquittal of Saipem and Farid Noureddine Bedjaoui of bribery and international corruption charges MILAN, Italy, Dec. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Supreme Court of Cassation has upheld the Milan Court of Appeal's previous judgment acquitting Italian energy company Saipem and businessman Farid Noureddine Bedjaoui of corruption and bribery charges first issued in 2013. Italian prosecutors accused Saipem of orchestrating an alleged $197m bribe to former Algerian officials in order to secure seven contracts with Sonatrach, and businessman Farid Noureddine Bedjaoui of facilitating the bribe. In January 2020, the Milan Court of Appeal acquitted both Saipem and Mr Bedjaoui and ordered that the preventative seizure of the proceeds of the alleged crime be returned to Saipem and all the defendants in the prosecution, because the alleged fact of corruption does not exist.