OECD Report Attacks British Failure to Tackle Corporate Bribery and Corruption
THE TELEGRAPH: Britain's failure to tackle corporate bribery and corruption allegations was severely criticised in a report started after the Government blocked an investigation into a huge arms deal between BAE Systems and Saudi Arabia.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said it was "disappointed and seriously concerned about the UK's continued failure to address deficiencies in its laws on bribery of foreign public officials and on corporate liability for foreign bribery".

Compiled by the OECD's anti-corruption working group, the report said that British law makes it "very difficult for prosecutors to bring an effective case against a company for alleged bribery offences".

And the Government was slated for its failure to successfully prosecute a single firm for bribery, despite ratifying the body's anti-bribery convention 10 years ago.

The strength of criticism and lack of diplomatic language used in the report will be embarrassing for the Government, which in 2006 urged the Serious Fraud Office to drop an investigation into BAE's Al Yamamah contract with Saudi.

Earlier this year the Law Lords said the SFO was right to drop the investigation on national security grounds. BAE Systems has always denied any wrongdoing.

The OECD usually carries out reviews on members every two years, but decided to undertake an extra investigation of the UK's enforcement of the anti-bribery convention following the controversial BAE decision.

The body urged Britain to rapidly bring its legislation into line with its international obligations under the convention. >>> By Russell Hotten | October 17, 2008

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Fraud Investigators Raid BAE Agent's Austria Home
THE GUARDIAN: Serious Fraud Office investigating allegations of bribery and money laundering

British investigations into BAE, Britain's biggest arms company, appear to have revived today after it was disclosed that a key BAE agent has been raided.

Investigators from the Serious Fraud Office arranged for the agent, Count Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly, to be raided in Austria.

Austrian prosecutors said the raids were carried out at the request of the SFO investigating allegations of bribery and money laundering.

The Austrian police seized a quantity of documents from the home and office of Mensdorff-Pouilly, who has been accused of receiving millions of pounds from BAE for promoting deals. He is the Viennese laird of a Scottish castle.

The SFO's investigations into BAE have been controversial as the government stopped its inquiry into Saudi arms deals. Critics have alleged that the government is soft on BAE and has placed the company above the law and effectively made it immune from prosecution - an accusation denied by ministers. Fraud Investigators Raid BAE Agent's Austria Home >>> Rob Evans | September 30, 2008

REUTERS:
RPT-Austria Raids Lobbyists in Jetfighter Bribery Probe >>> | September 30, 2008

WALL STREET JOURNAL:
Police Look for Bribery Evidence in Case Against BAE >>> By David Crawford and Daniel Michaels | October 1, 2008

THE TELEGRAPH:
Austrian Addresses Visited in BAE Serious Fraud Office Probe: Police in Austria have visited a number of addresses as part of a UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation into claims that defence company BAE Systems was involved in bribery to secure aircraft contracts in the Czech Republic and Hungary.

The police visited the Austrian home and office of Count Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly, a lobbyist who owns a castle in Perthshire.

The SFO is thought to have asked the Austrian authorities for help with its continuing probe into the defence company. The lobbyist's lawyer, Harald Schuster, said any allegations of wrongdoing were groundless.

Despite abandoning its investigation into BAE's dealing with Saudi Arabia, the SFO has continued to look at the company's defence contracts in other countries, including South Africa and Tanzania. >>> By Russell Hotten | October 1, 2008

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Secret Papers Reveal Threats from Prince Bandar If British Government Refused to Drop Inquiry into Corruption at BAE
Photo of Prince Bandar, head of Saudi Arabia’s national security, courtesy of The Guardian
THE GUARDIAN: Saudi Arabia's rulers threatened to make it easier for terrorists to attack London unless corruption investigations into their arms deals were halted, according to court documents revealed yesterday.

Previously secret files describe how investigators were told they faced "another 7/7" and the loss of "British lives on British streets" if they pressed on with their inquiries and the Saudis carried out their threat to cut off intelligence.

Prince Bandar, the head of the Saudi national security council, and son of the crown prince, was alleged in court to be the man behind the threats to hold back information about suicide bombers and terrorists. He faces accusations that he himself took more than £1bn in secret payments from the arms company BAE.

He was accused in yesterday's high court hearings of flying to London in December 2006 and uttering threats which made the prime minister, Tony Blair, force an end to the Serious Fraud Office investigation into bribery allegations involving Bandar and his family.

The threats halted the fraud inquiry, but triggered an international outcry, with allegations that Britain had broken international anti-bribery treaties.

Lord Justice Moses, hearing the civil case with Mr Justice Sullivan, said the government appeared to have "rolled over" after the threats. He said one possible view was that it was "just as if a gun had been held to the head" of the government.

The SFO investigation began in 2004, when Robert Wardle, its director, studied evidence unearthed by the Guardian. This revealed that massive secret payments were going from BAE to Saudi Arabian princes, to promote arms deals.

Yesterday, anti-corruption campaigners began a legal action to overturn the decision to halt the case. They want the original investigation restarted, arguing the government had caved into blackmail. BAE: secret papers reveal threats from Saudi prince - Spectre of 'another 7/7' led Tony Blair to block bribes inquiry, high court told >>> By David Leigh and Rob Evans

LISTEN TO GUARDIAN AUDIO:
'It was remarkable the way the government had just rolled over': Two pressure groups are appealing against the decision to drop an investigation into BAE's dealings with Saudi Arabia

THE GUARDIAN:
A cover-up laid bare: court hears how SFO inquiry was halted: Papers show how arms giant tried to avoid revealing secrets; Saudi threats meant 'no other choice' but to stop investigation

THE GUARDIAN:
Full Coverage: The BAE Files

DAILY MAIL:
Blair accused of forcing BAE fraud probe to fold by applying 'irresistible pressure

THE INDEPENDENT:
Blair used 'irresistible pressure' to halt investigation into BAE-Saudi arms deal By Robert Verkaik, Law Editor

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