Wood Group axes final dividend as oil service firm swings to loss March 16, 2021 Engineers Wood Group this morning said it would not pay a final dividend after falling to a £228m loss in 2020. The FTSE 250 firm, which provides services for the oil industry, was battered by the collapse in oil prices last spring. As a result, it swung from a profit of £73m in 2019 to [...]
Fourth executive jailed in Britain’s Iraq oil bribery case March 1, 2021 A former sales manager of Dutch energy services company SBM Offshore was sentenced on Monday to three-and-a-half years in jail after being convicted by a London jury of bribing public officials to win oil contracts in post-occupation Iraq. Paul Bond, 68, was found guilty of two counts of bribery after a retrial at London’s Southwark Crown Court [...]
UK prosecution of Mike Lynch ‘would delay justice’, court hears February 12, 2021 A criminal prosecution of Mike Lynch, the British tech entrepreneur, in the UK would result in severe delays, the US government argued today as it fought to extradite the Autonomy founder to be tried on fraud charges in America. The UK’s Serious Fraud Office has reserved the right to prosecute the case if Lynch is [...]
DAY 1: Tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch fights extradition to the US February 9, 2021 British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch began earlier today his fight against his extradition, slamming the US for “overreaching” and saying the UK authorities could prosecute the alleged fraud. Alex Bailin QC, for Lynch, said the US Department of Justice (DoJ) is “not the global marshall of the corporate world”, as he launched the former Autonomy [...]
Supreme Court curbs SFO’s global reach February 5, 2021 The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has lost its case against US engineering company KBR in the Supreme Court over whether it can compel foreign businesses to hand over documents held overseas. Supreme Court Judges unanimously disagreed with a 2018 High out ruling that Section 2 notices could have extra-territorial reach. The US firm had previously [...]
Petrofac shares sink after former executive pleads guilty to $30m Abu Dhabi contracts bribe January 15, 2021 Shares in Petrofac are down 20 per cent today after its former global head of sales pleaded guilty to further bribery charges. David Lufkin pleaded guilty in Westminster Magnistrates Court to another three counts of bribery in charges brought aginst him by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). Lufkin offered and paid bribes of around $30m [...]
SFO closes investigation into British American Tobacco January 15, 2021 The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has closed its investigation into British American Tobacco (BAT), its subsidiaries and associated persons. The SFO said the evidence in the case did not meet the evidential test for prosecution. According to the BBC, BAT, which owns brands Lucky Strike and Pall Mall, was under investigation over allegations it paid [...]
The Bribery Act: Ten years on January 11, 2021 This year marks ten years since the Bribery Act came into force. It was enacted in 2010 but was not active until the following year. In May 2019 a House of Lords Select Committee of which I was a member scrutinised the Bribery Act and concluded that overall it was working well. The immediate reaction from businessmen at the outset when the Bribery Bill was [...]
Bombardier faces SFO probe over Indonesia contracts November 5, 2020 The Serious Fraud Office has confirmed it is investigating aircraft manufacturer Bombardier over suspected bribery and corruption relating to contracts and orders from Garuda Indonesia. It comes after an Indonesian court sentenced Garuda Indonesia’s former chief executive, Emirsyah Satar, to prison in May for bribery and money laundering offences linked to the procurement of planes [...]
Treasury Committee demands update on bank signature forgery allegations October 15, 2020 An influential committee of MPs have demanded an update from the City watchdog and National Crime Agency on their investigation into allegations of widespread signature forgery at British banks. The Treasury Select Committee first asked the Financial Conduct Authority and NCA to investigate allegations that banks used forged signatures on an industrial scale, leading to [...]