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Bribes firm ordered to pay £6m for breaching Iraq sanctions

A British company that admitted bribing ministers and officials in Ghana and Jamaica, and breaching sanctions in Iraq, was yesterday ordered to pay £6.6 million in fines and compensation.

In the first prosecution brought in Britain against a company for overseas corruption, the bridge-building company Mabey & Johnson admitted employing “the white man’s handshake” to build trust and confidence before signing contracts.

The company’s “culture” of kickbacks in Iraq was said to have struck at the very heart of the United Nations’ Oil-for-Food programme designed to make life easier for the Iraqi people under Saddam Hussein.

Its backhanders, combined with those from other companies all over the world, could have been used “for purposes severely detrimental to the proclaimed interests of the UK and, indeed, the UN”, Judge Geoffrey Rivlin, QC, said.

Southwark Crown Court was told that the specialist company parted with £1 million in sweeteners. They are thought to have helped it to harvest contracts worth £60 million.

The case is a victory for the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) — the first against a company for overseas corruption and the first US-style plea-bargaining negotiation. It is also the first case relating to the Oil-for-Food programme. The SFO investigation was triggered by the company’s appearance in a UN report on the scandal in Iraq.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article6850326.ece