Transocean, BP's drilling partner, linked to Iran, Syria

Human rights advocates have called for an investigation into Transocean’s recent dealings in Myanmar. They cite its involvement in a drilling project that apparently included a company that is suspected of having ties to two men accused of laundering money for Myanmar’s repressive government, which is under United States trade sanctions.

Transocean has disclosed in Securities and Exchange Commission filings that its drilling equipment was shipped by a forwarder through Iran and that until last year it held a stake in a company that did business in Syria. The State Department says Syria and Iran sponsor terrorism.

The NYT report adds that Transocean is not only under investigation for skirting U.S. tax laws, but it is also under investigation in Norway. In 2008, the company moved its corporate headquarters from Cayman Islands to landlocked Switzerland to lower its tax burden. It's pretty scummy stuff.<[br />
more:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/7/8/882606/-Transocean,-BPs-drilling-partner,-linked-to-Iran,-Syria
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/08/business/global/08ocean.html?hp=&pagewanted=all