MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Serious bribe claims against UK defence giant BAE Systems

BAE Systems helps build the Eurofighter Typhoon

Britain’s Serious Fraud Office has demanded that defence giant BAE Systems faces prosecution over bribery allegations. The SFO will ask the Attorney General Baroness Scotland to pursue corruption claims that BAE paid out millions of pounds to win contracts overseas.

The investigation involves deals BAE won from countries including Tanzania, the Czech Republic, Romania and South Africa. Baroness Scotland's office said they would decide whether there was enough evidence and if it was in the “public interest” to mount a prosecution.

BAE denies any wrongdoing, but the SFO move was welcomed by campaign groups and politicians with one describing the case as a “political scandal”. A separate case concerning a deal with Saudi Arabia was controversially dropped in 2007 on national security grounds, following the intervention of then-prime minister Tony Blair.

The SFO had reportedly given BAE a deadline to accept its offer of a plea bargain with a fine or face criminal prosecution. But with the deadline passing the SFO were left with little option but to put the wheels in motion for a high profile and potentially embarrassing prosecution.

A statement issued by the SFO read: “The Serious Fraud Office has announced today that it intends to seek the Attorney General's consent to prosecute BAE Systems for offences relating to overseas corruption and will prepare its papers to be submitted to the Attorney when the SFO considers it is ready to proceed.”

Legal experts said the move would send shockwaves through the corporate world, with the penalties being sought believed to be in the region of £1 billion. BAE, one of the UK's largest manufacturers, makes army kit and military hardware and employs more than 100,000 people worldwide.

The company responded by insisting it was seeking to resolve the “historical issues” of the case at the earliest opportunity.

A BAE statement read: ”BAE Systems has at all times acted responsibly in its dealings with the SFO, taking into account the interests of its shareholders and employees and the legal advice it has received. If the director of the SFO obtains the consent that he seeks from the Attorney General and proceedings are commenced BAE will deal with any issues raised in those proceedings at the appropriate time and, if necessary, in court”.