Four former executives and managers of oil & gas recruiter Swift have been charged with conspiracy to corrupt in connection with alleged bribe payments of £180,000 to Nigerian tax agents, according to a statement from the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

The alleged payments were to “avoid, reduce or delay paying tax on behalf of workers placed by Swift”, the statement said.

The SFO identified those charged as Paul Jacobs, Swift’s former chief financial officer; Bharat Sodha, a former tax manager; Nidhi Vyas, former financial controller of Swift; and Trevor Bruce, former area director for Nigeria.

The four defendants, all British nationals, appeared before Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday charged with two offences each, following a two-year investigation into the tax affairs of Swift Technical Energy Solutions, a Nigerian subsidiary of the Swift Group of companies. The company has exited Nigeria, citing requirements for increasingly greater percentages of Nigerian ownership in business such as Swift.

The charges relate to payments said to have been made in 2008 and 2009 to agents of the Rivers State Board of Internal Revenue and the Lagos State Board of Internal Revenue, both in Nigeria.

The case has been sent to Southwark Crown Court for a preliminary hearing on 22 February, the statement said. The defendants are on unconditional bail.

According to their respective LinkedIn profiles, Jacobs left the company in August 2010, Sodha left in January 2011 and Bruce left in January 2011. No information was available on Vyas’s employment situation but a SFO source said Vyas no longer worked for Swift.

The case was accepted for investigation by the SFO in August 2010 following a referral by City of London Police.

The statement goes on to say: “The Swift Group has been co-operating with the SFO investigation and is not facing criminal charges.”

No one at Swift was immediately available for comment.

Swift provides manpower for the oil & gas industry, employing over 3,000 contractors in over 35 countries.