Bribery and Corruption

Jeffrey Cook has been ordered to pay back a six-figure sum.

A former Ministry of Defence civil servant was jailed for 30 months at Southwark Crown Court on Friday, after being convicted of misconduct in public office last month.

He was also handed a confiscation order to pay £123,813.06 within three months.

https://www.civilserviceworld.com//professions/article/exmod-official-sent-to-jail-for-pocketing-secret-payments

A former Ministry of Defence (MoD) official has been jailed for misconduct in public office after it was found he took £70,000 in secret payments. Jeffrey Cook, 67, received cash payments and cars while employed at the Government department and seconded to a defence contractor called Paradigm.

At the time of the offence, MoD rules banned employees from accepting external paid employment, Southwark Crown Court was told on Friday.

The UK anti-fraud agency has applied to the court on Monday for permission to appeal two recent decisions that found it liable, as the long-running ENRC litigation battles on.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) was found by Mr Justice Waksman to be liable for a legal bill back in December.

The former Chief of Staff to the President of Madagascar has been found guilty of bribery following a fast-paced covert investigation by the National Crime Agency.

Romy Andrianarisoa, 47, from Madagascar, and her associate French national Philippe Tabuteau, 54, were charged in August 2023 after requesting substantial sums of money in exchange for their help securing an exclusive mining joint venture with the Government of Madagascar. Tabuteau pleaded guilty in September 2023.

https://nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/news/former-chief-of-staff-to-madagascan-president-convicted-of-bribery

The UK anti-fraud agency has revealed it charged two former Petrofac senior executives with bribery over influencing contracts awards.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has charged Marwan Chedid and George Salibi, who worked in various senior roles within Petrofac Group in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Transparency International has released its latest report about anti-corruption efforts in Western Europe and the EU.

Corruption in Western Europe and the European Union is getting worse, according to experts' perceptions, and this is the first time it's got worse in over a decade.

Transparency International’s latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) looked at 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption on a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).

Companies who are found to be dodging strict trade sanctions, including those imposed since the war in Ukraine, will face tougher penalties with the creation of a new Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation (OTSI).

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-unit-to-crack-down-on-firms-dodging-russian-sanctions

Today at the Old Bailey, the solicitor William Osmond was sentenced to nine months in prison, suspended for 18 months, for tipping off his client about an SFO money laundering investigation and issuing investigators with a forged document. Osmond was also ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and pay £5000 toward the SFO’s costs.

https://www.sfo.gov.uk/2023/11/30/sfo-secures-nine-month-sentence-for-solicitor-who-tipped-off-client-about-criminal-investigation/

Businesses that breach UK sanctions imposed on Russia should notify the authorities if they wish to be eligible for lenient treatment, an expert in sanctions compliance has said.

https://www.pinsentmasons.com/en-gb/out-law/news/uk-russian-sanctions-breaches

A review by a senior lawyer into the procurement of the delayed Ferguson Marine ferries found no evidence of fraud, though parts of the process were “not entirely satisfactory”.

It comes after a BBC Disclosure documentary last year alleged the process for awarding the contract may have been rigged in favour of the Port Glasgow shipyard.