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Mabey & Johnson in Papua New Guinea

In 2004, the Serious Fraud Office in the UK was investigating allegations that British bridge manufacturer Mabey & Johnson paid bribes to win a lucrative contract to build 116 bridges in Papua New Guinea.

The SFO is accountable to the British Attorney-General and investigates and prosecutes serious and complex fraud cases.

The company stated that it does not pay bribes or any other form of unlawful inducement stating that it has a comprehensive anti-corruption policy with procedures which are vigorously enforced.

The Guardian said Mabey & Johnson stood to reap a STG 10 million (K61 million) profit from the PNG deal, which was snapped up in 2001 by the then Morauta government through a STG 31 million commercial loan provided by Deutsche Bank and guaranteed by the UK's Export Credit Guarantee Department (ECGD).

Officials within British government circles have confirmed that Mabey & Johnson applying for cover in respect to phase 2 of the
program but ECGD is yet to decide on whether to provide cover for the next stage.

References
Financial Times  [Publication date: 14/1/2010] 'Ex-Mabey chief to face graft charges' by Michael Peel
   http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d2208ebe-00ac-11df-ae8d-00144feabdc0.html
[ Date URL accessed: 14/1/2010 ]

Caribbean360.com  [Publication date: 15/7/2009] 'Jamaican bribery scandal minister resigns'
   http://www.caribbean360.com/News/Caribbean/Stories/2009/07/15/NEWS0000008122.ht
   ml
[ Date URL accessed: 16/7/2009 ]

The Gleaner  [Publication date: 14/7/2009] 'OCG bribery probe well under way'
   http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090714/lead/lead6.html
[ Date URL accessed: 15/7/2009 ]

The Guardian  [Publication date: 8/7/2009] 'Mabey & Johnson agrees corruption plea bargain with Serious Fraud Office'
   http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jul/08/mabey-johnson-serious-fraud-offi
   ce-plea-bargain
[ Date URL accessed: 15/7/2009 ]

The Guardian  [Publication date: 21/12/2005] 'SFO studies corruption claims against UK bridge builders' by David Leigh, Rob Evans
   http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foi/story/0,9061,1671721,00.html#article_continu
   e
[ Date URL accessed: 21/12/2005 ]

The Guardian  [Publication date: 20/12/2005] 'British family firm accused of getting rich by building bridges to nowhere' by David Leigh, Rob Evans
   http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foi/story/0,9061,1671092,00.html
[ Date URL accessed: 21/12/2005 ]

TUC  [Publication date: 14/9/2005] 'ending poverty and strengthening the UN'
   http://www.tuc.org.uk/extras/MDGsubmission.doc
[ Date URL accessed: 16/9/2005 ]

Xinhua  [Publication date: 8/8/2005] 'Philippine anti-graft group accuses govt of corruption in bridge project'
   http://english.people.com.cn/200508/08/eng20050808_201008.html
[ Date URL accessed: 10/8/2005 ]

BBC  [Publication date: 30/11/2004] 'Export Credits Guarantee Department (File on Four Transcript)'
   http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/30_11_04_export_credit.pdf
[ Date URL accessed: 6/2/2005 ]

PNG Post-Courier  [Publication date: 2/8/2004] 'UK probes bridge deal' by Alex Rheeney
[ Date URL accessed: 26/9/2004 ]

The Guardian  [Publication date: 2005] 'Documents Obtained Under the Freedom of Information Act Regarding 'Bridges to Nowhere' in the Philippines'
   http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2005/12/19/IR0545docsf
   orrelease.pdf
[ Date URL accessed: 3/1/2006 ]

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