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Fresh allegations Rolls-Royce was involved in corruption to land contracts

Isabelle Fraser 

31 OCTOBER 2016 • 8:02PM

Rolls-Royce was involved in corruption to land major contracts, an investigation has alleged.

The claim was made in a BBC documentary, which said that Rolls-Royce hired a network of agents and used bribes in order to land contracts in 12 countries.Rolls-Royce declined to comment on any specific allegation made by the programme, but said: “We have made it clear that Rolls-Royce will not tolerate business misconduct or inappropriate behaviour of any kind and in recent years we have intensified our focus on ethics and compliance, which are foundations of our culture.”

It has been at the centre of an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office over bribery and corruption involving intermediaries in China and Indonesia since 2012.

In May, this inquiry was widened to look into operations in Nigeria. Rolls-Royce added that it is “fully co-operating with the authorities and we cannot comment on ongoing investigations,” and added that in 2014 it carried out a review and update of the Group's bribery and corruption policies. It stressed that "Our decision not to comment on any allegation or claim put to us is not an admission or confirmation.”​

The documentary, produced with The Guardian, called Panorama: How Rolls-Royce Bribed Its Way Around The World, alleged that payments of around £10m were made to an unregistered Indian agent, and that the company made a suspicious payment which may have helped it win a major contract to build engines for Hawk aircraft.

The investigation alleged that Rolls-Royce paid millions of pounds to companies linked to Sudhir Choudhrie, a businessman on an Indian government blacklist of people suspected of "corrupt or irregular practice".

It is illegal in India to pay middlemen to win defence contracts. Mr Choudhrie and his son were both arrested and questioned by the SFO in 2014 as part of its investigation into Rolls-Royce. They both denied wrongdoing and were released without charge. Mr Choudhrie is also an adviser to the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Tim Farron, and has donated more than £1.6m to the party.

The investigation also claims that that agents were hired in Brazil, India, China, Indonesia, South Africa, Angola, Iraq, Iran, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia.

The SFO inquiry is also investigating Monaco-based Unaoil over allegations of bribery, corruption and money laundering, and its relationship with Rolls-Royce.

The SFO said that it “is conducting major investigations into allegations of bribery and corruption involving both Rolls-Royce and Unaoil. We cannot comment further at this time.”

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