Court orders Alstom Network UK Ltd to pay £16.4 million
Alstom Network UK Ltd
has today been ordered to pay a total of £16.4 million for conspiracy to corrupt relating to a contract to supply trams in Tunisia.
This sentence comprises £15 million in fines and £1.4 million in costs.
The company
was convicted in April 2018 of conspiracy to corrupt, having paid an intermediary called Construction et Gestion Nevco Inc. (Nevco) €2.4 million to secure an €79.9 million contract with Transtu,
the company
responsible for running the Tunis Metro.
To satisfy internal compliance checks and make its agreement with Nevco appear a legitimate contract for services,
Alstom
helped to produce paperwork as ‘evidence’ of services rendered.
In reality, Nevco was simply a conduit for bribes.
This was acknowledged by Alstom Network UK itself when it decided not to make a final payment of €240,000 in its original €2.64m contract.
Graham Hill, Robert Hallett and Alstom Network UK
were acquitted in the same trial of alleged corruption in relation to transport contracts in India and Poland.
This is the latest sentence in the SFO’s Alstom case, which has seen three individuals, Alstom Network UK Ltd and Alstom Power Ltd convicted of conspiracy to corrupt.
Serious Fraud Office