BAE Systems to buy textbooks for Tanzania in SFO settlement
DEFENCE giant BAE Systems agreed yesterday to pay almost £30m towards education projects in Tanzania as part of a settlement with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).
The payment is linked to a fine handed to BAE in late 2010 after the company admitted it had failed to keep adequate accounting records in relation to a contract with the Tanzanian government to supply air traffic control.
Following the settlement, BAE was fined £500,000 and ordered to pay an additional £225,000 in costs to the SFO. The money will be used to buy textbooks and classroom supplies across the country, the SFO said.
“This agreement is a first for the SFO which piloted it through the UK legal system,” said SFO director Richard Alderman.