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Aluminium firm Alcoa to pay $384m after guilty plea in US over Bahrain bribes | |
(about 3 hours later) | |
A subsidiary of Alcoa, the multinational aluminium group, has pleaded guilty in the US to a bribery offence relating to the payment of kickbacks to Bahraini officials through an unnamed London-based middleman with close ties to Bahrain's royal family. | |
The Alcoa admission comes less than six weeks after the surprise collapse of the UK trial of Victor Dahdaleh, a London-based consultant who had been under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) for four years in relation to the bribery scandal. | The Alcoa admission comes less than six weeks after the surprise collapse of the UK trial of Victor Dahdaleh, a London-based consultant who had been under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) for four years in relation to the bribery scandal. |
Alcoa has agreed to pay $223m (£135m) to the US department of justice (DoJ) in criminal fines and forfeiture following admissions that bribes were paid through a London businessman to Bahraini officials including senior members of the royal family. Lawyers for Dahdaleh declined to comment on Alcoa's plea. | Alcoa has agreed to pay $223m (£135m) to the US department of justice (DoJ) in criminal fines and forfeiture following admissions that bribes were paid through a London businessman to Bahraini officials including senior members of the royal family. Lawyers for Dahdaleh declined to comment on Alcoa's plea. |
Alcoa also reached a parallel civil settlement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) agreeing to pay $161m in disgorgement, bringing the total cost to the New York-listed group to $384m. Alcoa, which has already paid $85m to Bahraini state-run aluminium firm Alba to settle another civil claim, said it "welcomes the resolution of this legacy legal matter". | Alcoa also reached a parallel civil settlement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) agreeing to pay $161m in disgorgement, bringing the total cost to the New York-listed group to $384m. Alcoa, which has already paid $85m to Bahraini state-run aluminium firm Alba to settle another civil claim, said it "welcomes the resolution of this legacy legal matter". |
Dahdaleh, a British-Canadian national, was accused of paying tens of millions of dollars in bribes to former managers of Alba in return for a cut of contracts worth more than $3bn. Last month counsel for the SFO told a judge at Southwark crown court that the agency no longer intended to pursue the prosecution, in part after a star witness, Bruce Hall – accused of receiving bribes while working for Alba over an eight-year period – significantly changed his evidence. | |
Hall has already pleaded guilty to a UK conspiracy charge and is expected to be sentenced in March. | Hall has already pleaded guilty to a UK conspiracy charge and is expected to be sentenced in March. |
The SFO does have powers to bring charges against corporate defendants, but did not do so in the case of Alcoa or its subsidiaries. British prosecutors nevertheless co-operated with their US counterparts in helping secure the guilty plea on Thursday from Alcoa World Alumina. | |
An SFO spokesman said: "We are aware of the announcement and continue to work with the DoJ." | An SFO spokesman said: "We are aware of the announcement and continue to work with the DoJ." |
In contrast with the multimillion-dollar fines and settlements secured by the DoJ and SEC, the SFO's aborted prosecution of Dahdaleh has left the businessman open to pursue a substantial claim for costs against taxpayer funds. | |
The US acting assistant attorney general Mythili Raman thanked the SFO for its help, adding: "Alcoa World Alumina today admits to its involvement in a corrupt international underworld in which a middleman, secretly held offshore bank accounts, and shell companies were used to funnel bribes to government officials in order to secure business. | The US acting assistant attorney general Mythili Raman thanked the SFO for its help, adding: "Alcoa World Alumina today admits to its involvement in a corrupt international underworld in which a middleman, secretly held offshore bank accounts, and shell companies were used to funnel bribes to government officials in order to secure business. |
"The law does not permit companies to avoid responsibility for foreign corruption by outsourcing bribery to their agents, and, as today's prosecution demonstrates, neither will the Department of Justice." | "The law does not permit companies to avoid responsibility for foreign corruption by outsourcing bribery to their agents, and, as today's prosecution demonstrates, neither will the Department of Justice." |
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