I'm tweeting from Milan this morning at the Shell/ Eni corruption trial. The witness today is called by former Eni manager Vincenzo Armanna who claims that the €900k he received was not a kickback but part of an gold deal involving a former Attorney General of Nigeria Bayo Ojo. 
2/ The court has ruled that a recently identified witness, a former senior Nigerian policeman, who is claimed to be the eye witness to cash payments in Nigeria from the OPL 245 deal will be allowed to give testimony. His inclusion in the trial had been opposed by the defendants.
3/ The witness is Lorenzo Carpella, an Italian who says he discovered he could make money in Dubai dealing in gold with Nigerians. Wealthy Nigerian families often invest in gold and jewellery he tells the court.
4/ Carpella's testimony is interrupted by the judge asking what he is reading. The witness says it was 8 years ago so he prepared a statement with his lawyer to refresh his memory. The judge's abruptly stops his testimony, reading prepared statements are not allowed here.
5/ The judge's left the court briefly and then angrily reprimanded the witness and the lawyer, banging the table. The witness is reminded he only answers the questions he is asked, not read pre-prepared statements.
6/ Carpella explains that he flew to Lagos in May 2012 where he met Bayo Ojo, former Nigerian justice minister together with British and German diplomats in a hotel. They discussed turning gold bars into bracelets. Bayo Ojo was very positive and interested he says.
7/ Carpella says he was representing a company called Mayas International, but the Chairman of the company wasn't keen on working with Nigerians. The lawyer for Armanna tries to present a contract about this, other defendants are objecting as it hadn't been filed with the court.
8/ Carpella confirms that the contract is accurate but the deal didn't happen. He says the transport costs were too high and he didn't hear from Bayo Ojo again.
9/ Carpella says that he also met other people at the Hilton hotel in Lagos including a Victor Nwafor, the supposed pseudonym for the alleged eye witness to the cash payments. He says he didn't have long exchanges with people.
10/ Carpella says that Armanna took him back to the airport in Lagos and told him that he had a problem that his father had left money in Kenya. Armanna was talking with Bayo Ojo about the problem. He doesn't know what happened.
11/ Carpella says that Armanna facilitated the meeting with Bayo Ojo but the managers of the gold company didn't want to work with Nigerians, so Carpella suggested having Armanna be the buyer and front the deal, he says it didn't happen though as the profit margin was too low.
12/ Carpella is asked how much the initial batch of 200kg would have cost. He says about 4 million euros but the first payment would have been roughly 200k-300k euros. He says its complicated how much exactly it would have been.
13/ Carpella says when he met Bayo Ojo he was told he was very important and influential in Nigeria and all over Africa. He was interested primarily in the oil business but was interested in finding new businesses, he didn't know if he had money.
14/ Carpella says he lost touch with Armanna, he only met him the one time until recently when spoke with his lawyers. Armanna told him he went on to do other business with Bayo Ojo but doesn't know what/
15/ Carpella is questioned by Decalzi's lawyer. He says that he thought it was important to have an important person like Bayo Ojo involved to deal with things like customs checks. He had explained how he managed to skip customs when arriving in Nigeria and that this boded well.
16/ Carpella is asked whether he shared concerns that this deal could be illicit with his employer. He says he didn't think it was illicit, he says he doesn't want to sound too material but his job was just to get a fee for finding a buyer.
17/ Carpella is asked if he filed a complaint against Armanna. He says he did in Milan after saw the allegations about Armanna and OPL 245 in the newspaper and he wanted to distance himself. He says he did it himself, nobody asked him or helped him.
18/ Carpella says the meeting with Ojo lasted half a day. A Nigerian army general was also there called "Aya", he was dressed in uniform.
19/ Carpella is asked by the Judge about the contract which has Armanna paying him not Maya. Armanna says the CEO of Maya was his friend so he didn't argue the contract which was a formality for him, he was told him he would get paid by Maya if the Nigerian end didn't pay.
20/ Carpella is asked by the Judge why he wasn't more forthcoming, why these details had to be pulled out in cross examination. Carpella says he hadn't been in court before. That's the end of his cross examination.
21/ The lawyer for Armanna, the former Eni manager had said he would call two other witnesses, including a manager at JP Morgan originally scheduled to give evidence today, but has asked for more time. Apparently he hasn't yet filed the proper documents with the court.
22/ Some arguments between the lawyers and prosecutors about delays in finally agreeing which witnesses may be withdrawn. Defendants would like to have all the witness evidence heard by Christmas and concluding arguments next year. No final decision on this today.
23/ That's it for the hearing. The most important point was that the court decided to hear the alleged eyewitness to cash being paid out of the OPL 245 in Nigeria. Hearing just before Christmas. As one observer in court today put it "a poisoned panettone" for the defendants.
24/ Here's the Premium Times previous report on the confusion over this witness' identity. premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/…
25/ Also please do check out more about the case and our investigations into the deal on the @Global_Witness website. globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/o…
