LONDON – British arms firm BAE Systems has accepted guilt and agreed to pay penalties in the US and the UK totalling several hundred million pounds to settle all the long-running corruption allegations against it.
Under the deal, announced in London and Washington, BAE will pay $400 million (€292 million) in the US and £30 million (€34.3 million) in the UK.
In the US, BAE will plead guilty to offences of false accounting to settle bribery allegations over arms deals with Saudi Arabia stretching back more than 20 years, and corruption allegations over arms deals in central Europe.
The deal with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in the UK covers one arms contract only, under which an overpriced military radar was sold to Tanzania. The SFO said some of the cash would become “an ex-gratia payment for the benefit of the people of Tanzania”.
The settlement comes after a long campaign fought by the Guardian newspaper, which began a series of exposures of BAE’s conduct more than six years ago. BAE repeatedly denied all wrongdoing. The firm said that in the years since the incidents it had “systematically enhanced” its compliance policies and procedures.
Analysts said BAE had got off relatively lightly. "While it's a substantial figure, it's less than the worst-case scenario," one said. – ( Guardianservice)