HOUSTON (Reuters) - A U.S. grand jury issued a subpoena to Halliburton Co. seeking information about its Cayman Islands unit's work in Iran, where it is illegal for U.S. companies to operate, Halliburton said on Monday.

The oilfield services company, formerly headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, said it understood that the investigation of its subsidiary's work in Iran had been transferred to the U.S. Department of Justice from the Treasury Department, which first initiated an inquiry in 2001.

"In July 2004, Halliburton received from an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas a grand jury subpoena requesting the production of documents. We intend to cooperate with the government's investigation," Halliburton said in a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Halliburton said it had previously replied to requests for information from the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control in 2001 and again in January 2004.

The U.S. Attorney's office in Houston declined to comment.

Halliburton's engineering and construction unit KBR, formerly called Kellogg Brown & Root, is also the subject of U.S. Justice Department and SEC investigations for possible overcharges for fuel and food service contracts in Iraq, where it is the largest contractor, holding contracts that could eventually be worth $18 billion.

Halliburton said it would comply with the subpoena, and reiterated it believed its links to Iran through the Cayman Islands unit were in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

"It is important to understand, especially in the current political environment, that this is not a condemnation of the company, but a method of further studying the facts. We welcome a thorough review of any and all of the company's business," Halliburton spokeswoman Wendy Hall said in an e-mail.

The company said in its annual report that revenues from its subsidiary's business in Iran amounted to about $80 million, or one-half of 1 percent of total revenues of $16.3 billion in 2003.

In a report issued in October 2003 in response to shareholder complaints about its Iranian links, Halliburton said that it was not illegal for U.S. companies' independent foreign subsidiaries to conduct business in Iran, and that it had taken steps to isolate its U.S. operations and managers from its work there.
U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg, a Democrat, said the probe into possible sanctions violations should address the role of the Republican vice president.


"The question must be asked: did this possible violation occur between 1995 and 2000 while Dick Cheney was the CEO of Halliburton?" Lautenberg said in a statement released by his office.

Halliburton said its Cayman Islands subsidiary, Halliburton Products & Services Limited, has its headquarters in Dubai and is active only in Iran, where it provides a range of services to the state-run Iranian National Oil Company (NIOC).

Members of Lautenberg's staff said his office has passed to the Treasury Department some documents that had been sent by NIOC's British arm, Kala, to Halliburton's subsidiary in 1997 and 1998 seeking bids for oil services work in Iran.

In addition to that subsidiary, Halliburton has three British-based units and a Swedish-based unit that conduct business with Iran, the company said.

The United States first imposed economic sanctions against Iran in 1979 after the Islamic revolution when student fundamentalists held 52 American hostages for 444 days. Those sanctions were tightened under Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, although some exemptions were granted in 2000.

President Bush has included Iran in the "Axis of Evil" for its support of "terrorist" organizations.
Criminal violations for corporations in violation of the sanctions can range up to $500,000, with penalties for individuals of up to $250,000 and 10 years in jail.


http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&s
toryID=5710588