BAE bribery probe could be delayed

27th Oct 2009 08:15

It's likely that the Serious Fraud Office will miss its deadline for bringing corruption charges against defence giant BAE Systems this week, according to reports.Legal sources told The Times charges could be delayed until next year as the SFO's leading counsel and the Attorney-General are yet to assess the case. The newspaper says the SFO is thought to be streamlining its investigations to make a possible prosecution easier and is set to drop many lines of inquiries into four foreign arms deals won by BAE. Over 30 SFO staff have been assigned to the case in order to get paperwork to Baroness Scotland of Asthal, the Attorney-General, by the end of this week.But talk is the process will be delayed as the SFO's leading counsel also has to submit his analysis of the evidence. It's claimed BAE paid backhanders to win contracts overseas in the Czech Republic, Romania, South Africa and Tanzania.BAE, which strenuously denies any wrongdoing, was caught up in a similar scandal in Saudi Arabia a few years ago, but the case was dropped on grounds of national security. It had been thought that the company will not be prosecuted this time either, but would be ordered to pay a fine of about £300m.Earlier this month, BAE vowed to deal with any issues that arise from the SFO investigations "at the appropriate time and, if necessary, in court".