In February 2007, the DOJ was reported to be investigating a case involving a Houston, Texas-based oil and gas company - now owned by GE - that bribes had been paid "through a major international freight forwarding and Customs-clearance company to employees of the Nigerian Customs service."

Following a DOJ investigation that included letters to Schlumberger, Shell, Tidewater, Nabors Industries, Transocean, GlobalSantaFe Corp., ENSCO, Cameron, Noble Corp., Pride International, Global Industries and Parker Drilling, Panalpina was subsequently identified as the company of interest to the DOJ. In response, Panalpina announced in 2008 that it had sold its domestic operations in Nigeria to local investors.

Panalpina, in "full cooperation" with the DOJ, has since conducted "in depth reviews" of operational activities in Nigeria, Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia in a bid to strengthen and expand its global Compliance process. A settlement with the DOJ is not expected for "several months."

In July 2009 Deccan Value Advisors, a Panalpina shareholder, filed a Federal civil suit against Panalpina to recover damages caused by its withdrawal from Nigeria.