Former polymer banknote manufacturer manager sentenced over corruption-based charges
Peter Chapman, 54, a former manager of polymer banknote manufacturer Innovia Securency PTY, was sentenced for two and a half years at a court in London today for corruption-related offences.
Chapman was convicted yesterday on four counts of making corrupt payments to a foreign official, although he was acquitted on an additional two counts he had been charged with.
Chapman was sentenced to 30 months on each of the four counts, although they are to be served simultaneously and, because of the length of time he has already served, he will spend the rest of his sentence on licence.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) accused Chapman of bribing an agent of Nigerian Security Printing and Minting to convince them to purchase polymer substrate from his own company, while the total value of the bribes relating to the charges Chapman has been convicted of amounted to $205,000 (£141,752).
"Corruption is a very serious global problem, that the anti-corruption summit this week highlights," said judge Michael Grieve.
Chapman was arrested at Heathrow Airport in April 2015 after being extradited from Brazil, before being charged with the corruption-related offences later that month.
The trial lasted five weeks.