Algeria vowed Wednesday to take tough action against any officials at state energy firm Sonatrach found to have accepted bribes from Italian company Eni. Eni's chief executive Paolo Scaroni is already under investigation in Italy over alleged bribes paid to win contracts in Algeria for Saipem SpA, a subsidiary of Eni. That inquiry is into suspected bribes given to Sonatrach, where several top executives including the president were forced to resign two years ago due to the scandal.

Italian energy major Eni's CEO Paolo Scaroni has been placed under investigation over alleged bribes paid to win contracts in Algeria, the company said on Thursday, denying any involvement in the scandal. Financial police raided Scaroni's residence in Rome and Eni's headquarters near Milan in their inquiry, which revolves around Eni's oil services subsidiary Saipem and its work on Algerian energy infrastructure. "Eni and its CEO declare themselves totally unrelated to the object of investigation," the company said.

The chief executive of Italian energy major ENI, Paolo Scaroni, is under investigation over alleged bribes linked to work in Algeria, ANSA news agency and Dow Jones Newswires reported on Thursday. Financial police raided Scaroni's home in Rome and ENI's headquarters near Milan as part of their investigation, which revolves around ENI's oil services subsidiary Saipem, the reports said. Contacted by AFP, ENI declined to comment. ENI shares plunged on the Milan stock exchange following the reports, closing the session with a 4.62 percent plunge to 17.33 euros.