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In March 2005, according to reports published by the Guardian newspaper, EFT Ltd., an electricity trading enterprise with headquarters in London, was being investigated by the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) for alleged corruption in the Balkans.

The investigation followed the findings of special audits commissioned by the UN's High Representative in Bosnia, Paddy Ashdown, which alleged that kickbacks may have been solicited by state power company officials to write advantageous electricity-swap contracts with private companies and that US government aid of $ 11m for providing electricity to war-torn states in the region was diverted to offshore accounts.

The report called for the UK's Serious Fraud Office to investigate dealings between the Republika Srbska power company and EFT. It said: "Controls over energy sales and exchanges are lax and therefore open to manipulation and kickbacks. Since we do not have access to the books of EFT, we were not in a position to determine if these weaknesses were taken advantage of."

The Guardian also reported that large offshore transactions through Jersey in the Channel Islands linked to the Balkan power companies were also under investigation. EFT denies making such offshore payments.

The London lawyers defending EFT Ltd, Clyde & Co, presented Lord Ashdown with a detailed rebuttal, saying the report was "defamatory" and "reaches some damning conclusions on flimsy evidence".

Later in March 2005, EFT Ltd went to the High Court to secure the return of files seized by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). If EFT's court challenge succeeds it would have the effect of blocking the transmission of files to prosecutors in Bosnia.