Justice Committee chair calls for Attorney-General to make decision on Airbus bribery probe
The chair of the Justice Committee Sir Bob Neill today called for the new Attorney-General Suella Braverman to take a decision on a bribery investigation into an Airbus subsidiary that has been in limbo for more than 18 months.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) launched an investigation into Airbus GPT Special Project Management in 2012 over allegations it paid £14m in bribes to secure a £2bn communications contract with the Saudi Arabian National Guard.
The SFO reportedly asked the Attorney General’s Office for permission to prosecute more than 18 months ago, but no decision has yet been taken and no explanation for the delay given.
Neill told City A.M.: “As a matter of principle decisions on prosecutions need to be taken in a timely fashion, that applies to any case, especially to significant and high-profile ones.
“There is a great deal of public interest in prosecutions of this type and it’s surprising that the SFO having done their job and submitted a file – it has apparently been sitting in the Attorney General’s Office for so long. We need a decision or an explanation as to why there is this unusual length of delay.”
Braverman succeeded Geoffrey Cox as the government’s top lawyer in the cabinet reshuffle earlier this month.
Airbus paid £3bn last month to authorities in the UK, US and France to settle a four-year probe which found bribery was “endemic in two core business areas” within the aerospace giant.
The investigation into Airbus’ GPT subsidiary was not included as part of that settlement.
Susan Hawley, executive director of Spotlight on Corruption, said: “It is essential that politicians do not undermine the independence of the SFO by dragging their heels or interfering in this case.”
In 2006, the SFO dropped an investigation into allegations that BAE Systems secured its series of mammoth al-Yamamah arms deal with Saudi Arabia through widespread bribery.
The investigation was discontinued by the then Labour government after Saudi Arabia threatened to pull out of a £6bn deal to buy Eurofighter Typhoons from BAE and threatened to stop cooperating with the UK on counter terrorism issues if the probe was not halted.
A spokesperson for Airbus said: “We are continuing to cooperate with the SFO on the GPT investigation. It would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.”
The SFO and the Attorney General’s Office declined to comment.