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Indian origin businessman
arrested in bribe sting
WSN Network
 NEW
YORK: A Briton of Indian origin, Pankesh Patel, was among three UK
executives charged with conspiring to bribe an African country over
a £9m arms sale. Patel was also among 22 people arrested by the
Federal Bureau of Investigation in the scam that is being described
as the largest ever such expose in the US.
The 43-year-old
was based in London and was the managing director of a United
Kingdom company that acts as sales agent for companies in the law
enforcement and military products industries. He was arrested last
Monday in
Las Vegas.
The scheme was
part of the undercover operation, with no actual involvement from
any Defence Minister.
The indictments
unsealed before a U.S. court allege that the defendants allegedly
agreed to pay 20 per cent "commission" to a sales agent who they
believed represented Defence Minister of an African state in order
to win a portion of a $15 million deal to outfit the country's
presidential guard.
In reality, the
"sales agent" was an undercover FBI agent.
The name of the
country has not been revealed.
City of London
Police were involved in the covert investigation and searched seven
premises in England.
Some 150 FBI
agents took part in the operation, which led to the arrest of 21
suspects in Las Vegas and one in Miami. The inquiry involves firms
trading in arms and law enforcement equipment.
The FBI said
Painter and Wares were the chairman and director of a UK company
that markets armoured vehicles.
US justice
officials said the charges represented the largest single
investigation and prosecution carried out so far under the Foreign
Corrupt Practices Act.
The law bars US
citizens and companies, as well as foreign people and companies
acting in the US, from bribing foreign government officials in order
to get or keep business.
According to
court documents, the accused allegedly engaged in a scheme to pay
bribes to the minister of defence for an African country in order to
win a portion of a £9m ($15m) deal to outfit its presidential guard.
But the scheme
was part of an FBI undercover operation and no minister of defence
was actually involved.
City of
London Police Det Ch Supt Stephen Head said: "Combating overseas
corruption is an important part of the UK's fight against economic
crime."
27
January 2010
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