BAE Systems pleads guilty!

BAE Sentenced to $775,000 Fine to End Bribery Probe

December 21, 2010, 7:29 AM EST
By Lindsay Fortado



(Updates with company comment in ninth paragraph.)
Dec. 21 (Bloomberg) -- BAE Systems Plc, Europe’s biggest defense company, was sentenced to pay a 500,000-pound ($775,000) fine after pleading guilty to not keeping proper payment records, ending a six-year bribery investigation.
Judge David Bean in London sentenced the company today after it pleaded guilty in a deal with the U.K. Serious Fraud Office. It had agreed in February to pay 30 million pounds as part of the plea deal. BAE will send the remainder of the money to Tanzania, where the illegal conduct took place.
The defense company has been under investigation in the U.K. since November 2004 for allegedly paying bribes to win deals in six countries including Tanzania and the Czech Republic. BAE agreed in February to pay almost $450 million in fines to resolve the case with the SFO and U.S. prosecutors.
Bean today called the plea agreement “loosely and hastily drafted” and said the fine he levied reflected that he couldn’t “sentence for an offense which the prosecution failed to charge,” such as conspiracy to corrupt or false accounting.
BAE paid $400 million to the U.S. in February and pleaded guilty to making false statements in connection with regulatory filings. The company denies paying bribes.
The SFO postponed asking for court approval of its part of the deal as it sought to draft papers that avoid running afoul of the U.K. courts, which don’t allow the SFO to agree to a penalty.
‘Appropriate Penalty’
“My job is to bring cases to court and it is entirely up to the judge to set the appropriate penalty,” SFO director Richard Alderman said after the ruling. “We thought it was appropriate to draw a line under the past.”
He said he expected BAE to honor the portion of the agreement to pay the remainder of the 30 million pounds to Tanzania, a move the judge said “places moral pressure on the court to keep the fine to a minimum.” BAE will also pay the SFO 225,000 pounds for their legal fees.
BAE said in an e-mailed statement that the ruling drew “a line under this historical matter.” Lindsay Walls, a spokeswoman for the company, said BAE would pay 29.5 million pounds to Tanzania.
“In the decade since the conduct referred to in this settlement occurred, the company has systematically enhanced its compliance policies and processes,” BAE said in the statement.
BAE Shares
Shares of the London-based company rose 1.8 percent to 333.4 pence on the London Stock Exchange at 12:04 p.m. The shares have fallen 7.2 percent this year.
The settlement concentrates on Tanzania, where BAE made commission payments to a marketing adviser in connection with a radar system and failed to accurately account for such payments. The investigation surrounding the Tanzania case stretches back to a 1997 contract.
BAE admitted in the plea bargain that there was a good chance that part of the $12.4 million it paid to Shailesh Vithlani was used in the negotiation process for the $40 million radar system “to favor BAE.”
“It seems naive in the extreme to think Vithlani was simply a well-paid lobbyist,” Bean said in his judgment.
“The defendants were concealing from the auditors and ultimately the public the fact that they were making payments to Mr. Vithlani, 97 percent of them via two offshore companies, with the intention that he should have free rein to make such payments to such people as he thought fit in order to secure the radar contract for the defendants, but that the defendants did not want to know the details,” Bean said.
The SFO was forced to scrap an investigation into BAE in 2006 over bribes allegedly paid to win deals in Saudi Arabia, after then-prime minister Tony Blair said charges might harm relations between the countries
 
Judge questions BAE deal over payments for Tanzania contract

Mr Justice Bean tells Southwark Crown court it appeared that BAE had paid 'whatever was necessary' to get contract

Rob Evans and David Leigh
BAE-007.jpg
BAE has steadfastly argued that it did not make corrupt payments to secure a contract from the Tanzanian government. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod for the Guardian
A controversial deal between prosecutors and Britain's biggest arms firm, BAE, was today challenged by a judge who said the company appeared to have been engaged in bribery.
BAE had reached a deal with the Serious Fraud Office earlier this year in which it agreed to plead guilty to a relatively minor accounting offence. BAE steadfastly argued that it did not make corrupt payments to secure a £28m contract from the Tanzanian government.
But today, Mr Justice Bean questioned the heart of the agreement, repeatedly saying that payments originating from the company appeared to be "corrupt" and for "bribing decision-makers in Tanzania". He told Southwark crown court that it appeared that BAE had paid "whatever was necessary to whomever it was necessary" to get the Tanzanian contract. He added that it appeared that the payments were disguised so that BAE "would have no fingerprints on the money". "They just wanted the job done – hear no evil, see no evil," he said. The judge is due to sentence BAE tomorrow .
In February, BAE struck the plea deal with the SFO and American prosecutors to end years of corruption investigations into its business methods. The arms giant agreed to pay £30m in corporate penalties in return for admitting accounting irregularities over a radar contract with Tanzania. Anti-corruption campaigners have argued that the deal is too lenient and cosy.
Today, Victor Temple, the QC for the SFO, told the court that BAE had set up a system of "covert" and "overt" agents to sell their arms around the world. The "overt" advisers "conducted their work openly as BAE's in-house representatives", he said, while the "covert" agents' work was "highly confidential".
He said Sir Richard Evans, BAE's chairman, had "personally approved" the use of a businessman, Sailesh Vithlani, as its "covert" agent to secure the Tanzanian radar contract. Approval was also given by Mike Turner, then a board member who later became BAE's chief executive.
Temple said BAE paid $12.4m (£7.7m) to Vithlani between 2000 and 2005 – around a third of the radar contract's value.
BAE had paid much of this money through its front company based in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), known as Red Diamond, to a Panama-based company controlled by Vithlani.
Today the court heard that the SFO and BAE had agreed a series of "carefully- worded" statements to put before the judge. These included:
• The admission by BAE that "there was a high probability that part of the $12.4m would be used … to favour BAE" while the contract was being negotiated;
• "It was not now possible to establish precisely what Vithlani did with the money which was paid to him";
• That the SFO did not say that any of this money was "in fact improperly used";
• That the SFO accepted that BAE had not engaged in corruption.
The judge called these statements the "critical part" of the case, repeatedly asking barristers for the SFO and BAE what the money had actually been used for.
He said: "I have to establish what has happened. If there is no money to be used for corrupt practices, why is 97% of it paid through a BVI company controlled by BAE to another [offshore] company controlled by Vithlani?"
When Temple said Vithlani had been hired to lobby for BAE, the judge questioned why the businessman was paid so much for his work.
Temple said that lobbying was legitimate work. "To lobby is one thing, to corrupt another".
Temple added that BAE had committed the accounting offence as Vithlani had been recorded in its books as performing "technical services", but he had no knowledge of any technical matters.
David Perry, QC for BAE, argued that the firm had not admitted any corruption and should only be sentenced for the one offence they had confessed to in the plea bargain.
The judge had threatened to call witnesses to testify as he wanted to established the purpose of the payments, but later decided to go ahead with passing sentence tomorrow.

Humo ndo kwenye utata humo
 
Billioni 59 inapewa tanzania au wanapewa mafisadi hio.hakuna jipya hio billioni 59 naichukuliwa kama zawadi kwa wala rushwa tanzania.
 
LONDON (AP) - A British judge on Tuesday sentenced defense contractor BAE Systems PLC to pay a fine of 500,000 pounds ($775,000) for failing to keep proper accounts of payments made to an adviser in Tanzania.

The payments were made in connection with the sale of a military radar system in 1999. BAE agreed in February to plead guilty to a single offense in a deal with the Serious Fraud Office, which in turn waived its right to investigate any other conduct by BAE before this year.

Justice David Bean, in a ruling which sharply criticized both BAE Systems and the Serious Fraud Office, said "there was a high probability" that some of the payments were used to favor BAE in negotiations, and it was impossible to determine whether they were lawful.

BAE, the judge said, "did not want to know the details" of how their adviser, Shailesh Vithlani used the money.

"The victims of this way of obtaining business, if I have correctly analyzed it, are not the people of the U.K., but the people of Tanzania," Bean said.
 
Jaji Bean katuona watz hamnazo! Kwa mashtaka alifikishiwa si ya madai, halafu watz hatukulalamika. Good decision.
 
_50494027_010285441-1.jpg

BAE admitted it had failed to keep proper accounts

BAE Systems has been fined £500,000 for failing to keep proper records of payments it made to an adviser in Tanzania.

The defence group paid £7.7m to two firms controlled by businessman Shailesh Vithlani ahead of winning a £28m Tanzanian military radar contract.

The ruling by a judge at Southwark Crown Court comes after BAE had already agreed a deal with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

BAE also has to pay £225,000 costs.

The judge, Mr Justice Bean, said he was under pressure to keep the court fine to a minimum.

Under the agreement struck between the SFO and BAE, the company would deduct the fine from the £30m it had offered to the people of Tanzania to settle the case.

"The structure of this settlement agreement places moral pressure on the court to keep the fine to a minimum so that the reparation is kept at a maximum," said the judge.

He also criticised another part of the deal which he said gave any member of BAE Systems group "blanket immunity for all offences committed in the past, whether disclosed or not".

He said the agreement was loosely and hastily drafted.

Source: BBC News
 
Mark my words, pamoja na hizo pesa kutokana na ufisadi ambao serikali imekuwa ikikanusha, zitakapofika tu lazima zifanyiwe ufisadi.
 
The admission by BAE that "there was a high probability that part of the $12.4m would be used … to favour BAE" while the contract was being negotiated
Badala ya kulia kwanini Waingereza hawajatulisha, tunatakiwa tu-deal na hicho kipengele hapo juu.
 
Amazing!

Was watching sky news and it is now official. Am just surprised that a deal worth almost £30mln was not recorded properly. I don't get it.

My take, BAE kind of manipulated everything as long as they pay less money since the whole thing had so many fouls. For them to pay £1.5mln as fine is ridiculous.

I guess they played a very tactical game - instead of paying Tanzania more than £10mln, 1.5 is more than okay, na bado tumelala tu.

Amazing!
 

Fedha za kashifa ya rada kurejeshwa Tanzania


Imeandikwa na Mwandishi Wetu; Tarehe: 21st December 2010 @ 23:55


KAMPUNI kubwa ya ulinzi ya Ulaya, BAE Systems, imekubali kuilipa Serikali ya Tanzania fidia ya Sh bilioni 67.29 (pauni milioni 30) kama walivyokubaliana na Taasisi ya Kuchunguza Makosa makubwa ya jinai ya Uingereza, SFO, ikiwa ni sehemu ya kumaliza shauri lililokuwa linawakabili mahakamani.

Kauli hiyo imetolewa baada ya kampuni hiyo kuhukumiwa kulipa faini ya pauni 500,000 au dola za Marekani 775,000, sawa na Sh bilioni 1.12 baada ya kukiri kosa la ‘kushindwa kuweka kwa usahihi kumbukumbu za manunuzi.'

Viwango vya ubadilishaji kwa siku ya jana kwa mujibu wa Benki Kuu ni pauni moja sawa na Sh 2,243 wakati dola moja ni Sh 1,442.

Kampuni hiyo imesema kwamba kwa sasa inaangalia utaratibu wa malipo hayo ikiwa ni sehemu ya fedha zilizolipwa na Serikali ya Tanzania kununua rada hiyo ya kisasa.

Mpango huo ulikuwa na thamani ya dola milioni 40 sawa na pauni milioni 28. Mahakama ilitoa hukumu hiyo kwa kuzingatia shauri la kutoweka taarifa vyema.

Suala la kutoa mlungula ambalo awali lilitawala uchunguzi wa SFO halikufikishwa mahakamani.

Jaji David Bean alisema itakuwa ni kuukataa ukweli kufikiri kuwa wakala wa BAE nchini Tanzania, Shailesh Vithlani, alilipwa mamilioni ya dola eti kwa sababu tu anajua kuunganisha vyema masuala ya biashara.

BAE ilikubali kwamba inawezekana kwamba sehemu ya dola milioni 12.4 (waliyomlipa Vithlani) ilitumika kwa ajili kuisaidia kupata zabuni hiyo.

Hata hivyo waendesha mashtaka wamesema kwamba ni vigumu sana kuweza kujua Vithlani alifanya nini na fedha hizo na wala kuthibitisha kwamba sehemu ya fedha hizo zilitumika vibaya.

Kwa mujibu wa maelezo fedha hizo zililipwa kwa kampuni za Vithlani za British Virgin Islands na Kampuni ya Merlin iliyosajiliwa Tanzania.

Kampuni ya BAE imesema kwamba imefurahishwa na shauri hilo kumalizwa na kwamba inaandaa utaratibu wa kuilipa Tanzania fedha zake.

Hukumu hiyo iliyotolewa jana na Jaji David Bean mjini London inahitimisha miezi sita ya uchunguzi wa kina wa shauri hilo.

BAE ilikiri kosa hilo la kushindwa kutunza vyema kumbukumbu za manunuzi mwezi uliopita katika mpango wake na Taasisi ya Kuchunguza Makosa makubwa ya jinai ya Uingereza, SFO.

Kampuni hiyo iliridhia Februari kulipa pauni milioni 30 kama sehemu ya fidia na waendesha mashitaka walisema wangekubaliana na BAE ikiwa wangelipa faini hiyo na kutuma ‘chenji' kwa Serikali ya Tanzania.

Kampuni hiyo ilikuwa katika uchunguzi nchini Uingereza kuanzia Novemba, 2004 kwa tuhuma za kutoa rushwa ili kushinda zabuni za manunuzi katika nchi sita ikiwamo Tanzania na Jamhuri ya Czech.

Februari mwaka huu BAE ilikubali kulipa karibu dola za Marekani milioni 450 kama fidia ili kumaliza shauri hilo baina yake na SFO na waendesha mashitaka wa Marekani.

Hata hivyo, BAE ililipa dola za Marekani milioni 400 kwa Marekani na kukiri kosa la kutoweka taarifa sahihi ya manunuzi hayo. Kampuni hiyo ilikanusha kutoa rushwa.

"Jukumu langu ni kufikisha kesi mahakamani na kuhakikisha kuwa Jaji anatoa adhabu stahili," alisema Mkurugenzi wa SFO, Richard Aderman baada ya hukumu.

Alisema ana uhakika kuwa BAE itatekeleza makubaliano yaliyofikiwa ya kuilipa Serikali ya Tanzania ‘chenji' ya pauni milioni 30 (zaidi ya Sh bilioni 60), baada ya kulipa faini nchini Uingereza.

Wakili aliyekuwa akiitetea BAE, Arno Chakrabarti, alikataa kusema chochote baada ya hukumu hiyo.

Shauri hilo la rada lililoelezwa kufanywa na mfanyabiashara Shailesh Vithlani ambaye alihusika katika mpango huo kuinufaisha BAE, pia limemhusisha aliyekuwa Mwanasheria Mkuu wa Serikali, Andrew Chenge ambaye amekuwa akitajwa kuwa mmoja wa wahusika wa kashfa hiyo.
 
The contract price for the radar system agreed in 1999 was about $40 million, and Vithlani's fee was 31% of that amount, or roughly $12.4 billion.

Justice Bean said it was "naive in the extreme to accept that Mr. Vithlani was just a well-paid lobbyist," and that there was "a high probability" that part of that money was "used to favor" BAE Systems.

But he added that the company may have avoided the charge of breaching its duty to keep accounting records if it had booked payments to Vithlani as "public relations and marketing services" instead of "technical services."

In response to the verdict, the SFO made no mention of the criticism of the plea agreement. "I am delighted that the judge stressed the seriousness of BAE's actions and that he recognized that the true victims were the people of Tanzania," said SFO Director Richard Alderman.

However, some observers considered the punishment little more than a slap on the wrist.

"It is clear that BAE Systems has got off lightly," said Chandrashekhar Krishnan, executive director of Transparency International U.K. "The best that can now happen is that the company demonstrates it has turned a new leaf and is irrevocably committed to clean business. We hope that it will treat this as a wake-up call and not a nod-and-wink to return to its past practices."

HIVI HIYO RADA YENYEWE IPO NA INAFANYA KAZI????
 
Vigogo walikula rushwa ununuzi wa rada
Tuesday, 21 December 2010 21:21

Waandishi Wetu
KESI ya ufisadi katika ununuzi wa rada jana ilitolewa huku kwa kufunika suala la rushwa baada ya Mahakama ya Hakimu Mkazi ya Southwark Crown ya jijini London, Uingereza kuipiga faini ya Pauni 500,000 za Kiingereza (sawa na Sh1.1 bilioni za Tanzania) kampuni ya BAE System kwa kushindwa kutunza taarifa za malipo ya mshauri wao wa kiufundi ambaye ni Mtanzania.

Hukumu hiyo imetolewa siku moja baada ya Jaji David Michael Bean kutilia shaka malipo ya dola 12.4 milioni kwa mfanyabiashara wa Kitanzania, Shailesh Vithlani ambaye alikuwa wakala wa BAE, akisema kuwa fedha hizo zilitumika kuwapa rushwa viongozi wa serikali ya Tanzania ili wakubali mpango huo wa kununua rada kwa bei ya juu.

Jaji Bean alitishia kutotoa hukumu inayoidhinisha makubaliano yanayoitaka BAE System ilipishwe faini hiyo, akitaka maelezo ya malipo hayo kwa kuwa alisema inaonekana kuwa Vithlani angeweza kutumia fedha hizo kumrubuni mtu yeyote ili mradi apewe zabuni hiyo ya kununua rada kwa dola 40 milioni za Kimarekani.

Lakini Jaji Bean alijikuta akilazimika kuidhinisha hukumu hiyo baada ya BAE System kufikia makubaliano na kitengo cha uchunguzi wa makosa makubwa cha Uingereza, SFO, kuwa kampuni hiyo ikiri kutotunza taarifa za malipo hayo ya siri katika mpango wa ununuzi wa rada ili neno rushwa lisihusishwe kwenye kosa hilo.

BAE System ilikanusha kutumia rushwa katika kuishawishi serikali ya Tanzania kununua rada hiyo kwa bei ya juu na SFO haijaweka neno rushwa kwenye mashtaka yake dhidi ya kampuni hiyo ya Kiingereza, lakini Jaji Bean nusura akwamishe njama hizo baada ya kuhoji sababu za BAE kutoa fedha hizo nyingi kwa Vithlani.

"Siweni kuidhinisha makubaliano haya (baina ya SFO na BAE) hadi nijue malengo ya matumizi ya dola 12.4 za Kimarekani kwa mfanyabiashara wa Tanzania kwa sababu inaonekana kuwa fedha zilikuwa nyingi mno kiasi kwamba angeweza kulipalipa chochote kwa kwa yeyote ambaye angeona ni muhimu katika kufanikisha kushinda zabuni ya dola 40 milioni za Kimarekani," alisema Jaji Bean.

"BAE haikutaka kujua ni kiasi gani cha fedha kingelipwa na kwa nani. Usisikie uovu, usiseme uovu na mambo mengine."
Jaji huyo alisema kuwa kwa maana hiyo kiasi cha fedha alicholipwa Vithlani kingetolewa kwa viongozi wa serikali ili kufanikisha mpango huo.
Lakini katika hukumu ya jana, Jaji Bean pia alikubaliana na maafikiano hayo ya SFO na BAE na kuitaka kampuni hiyo kuilipa Tanzania paundi za 30 milioni za Kiingereza (sawa na Sh63 bilioni) na paundi 225,000 (sawa na Sh472 milioni) za gharama ya kuendesha kesi hiyo.

Kampuni ya BAE ilitakiwa kulipa faini ya Paundi 500,000 kwa kushindwa kuweka taarifa sahihi za malipo ya ununuzi wa rada hiyo katika biashara iliyofanyika mwaka 2007.
Kampuni ya BAE Systems ilimteua raia wa Tanzania Shailesh Vithlani kuwa wakala wa kuisadia kupata zabuni ya kuiuzia Tanzania hiyo ambayo bei yake ilizua gumzo.

Kwa kazi hiyo Vithlani alilipwa Dola za Marekani 12.4 milioni kupitia kampuni moja iliyosajiliwa katika visiwa vya British Virgin vilivyo barani Amerika ya Kusini.

Juzi katika utetezi wake BAE Systems ilisema ilimlipa Vithlani fedha hizo kwa kazi aliyoifanya kuishawishi Tanzania inunue bidhaa hiyo kutoka kwenye kampuni hiyo.
"Kutokana na mazingira halisi ya uuzaji rada kutofuata utaratibu na kukiri kwenu makosa, mahakama inaiamuru BAE kulipa faini ya chinin lakini iilipe Tanzania fedha kwa kiwango cha juu,'' alisema Jaji Bean.

Wakati kesi hiyo ikiendelea juzi, mjadala mkubwa baina ya upande wa mashtaka na utetezi ulikuwa juu ya matumizi ya fedha hizo zilizolipwa kisiri kwa Vithlani.
Hata hivyo, upande wa utetezi ulisimama imara kupinga kuwa haukufanya malipo yoyote kifisadi ili kufanikisha kupata zabuni hiyo.

Jana Victor Temple wa SFO alliambia mahakama hiyo kuwa BAE imeweka mfumo wa siri na wa wazi wa mawakala watakaofanikishia kampuni hiyo kupata zabuni mbalimbali za kuuza bidhaa zake.

"Kupitia mfumo wa wazi, BAE inafanya kazi zake kwa wazi na wawakilishi wa ofisi hiyo, lakini kwa siri wakala wake hufanya kazi kwa usiri wa hali ya juu kufanikisha malengo yao ya kibiashara," alisema.
Alisema mwenyekiti wa BAE, Richard Evans alithibitisha kumtumia mfanyabiashara Vithlani katika kufanikisha kampuni hiyo kushinda zabuni ya ununuzi wa rada.

"Uthibitisho huo pia ulitolewa na mjumbe wa bodi ya kampuni hiyo, Mike Turner ambaye baadaye alikuja kuwa mtendaji mkuu wa BAE," alisema.
Jaji alisema maelezo ya hayo ya utetezi ni tata katika kesi hiyo huku akirudia kumuuliza wakili wa SFO na BAE kuhusu matumizi ya dola 12.4 milioni alizolipwa Vithlani.

Alisema: "Mnapaswa kuonyesha nini kilitokea. Kama hakukuwa na fedha iliyotumika kifisadi, kwa nini ni asilimia 97 ya malipo hayo yalilipwa kupitia kampuni ya BVI inayomilikiwa na kampuni ya BAE kwa kampuni nyingine inayomilikiwa na Vithlani," alihoji.

Wakati Temple alisema kwamba Vithlani aliajiriwa kwa ajili kushawishi zabuni kwa kampuni BAE, jaji huyo alihoji kwa nini mfanyabiashara alilipwa kiasi kikubwa cha fedha?
Temple aliongeza kuwa "kushawishi ni halali, lakini kushawishi ni kitu kingine na ufisadi ni kingine pia".
Habari hii imeandaliwa na Sadick Mtulya na Salim Said kwa msaada wa mashirika ya habari


 
Despite the Serious Fraud Office's investigation of BAE going on for years and a plea bargain being agreed back in February, there is no mechanism in place to pay the reparations to Tanzania.
BAE walked out of court this morning £750,000 poorer.
The headline sum in BAE's plea bargain with the Serious Fraud Office may be £30m, however the only money the company is legally obliged to pay is a £500,000 fine and costs of £250,000 as ordered by Mr Justice Bean.
Both are in relation to one charge of failing to keep accounting records relating to the sale of a $40m (£28m) air traffic control system to Tanzania.
The balance of the £30m agreed with the SFO is to be paid in reparations to "the people of Tanzania" by BAE.
After the sentencing, Richard Alderman, the director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), said: “I expect BAE to honour the agreement. I expect the company to pay it as quickly as possible.”
But despite the investigation going for years and the plea bargain being agreed back in February, BAE has yet to put in place a mechanism to pay the money.
Three possibilities immediately arise. Firstly that the money is handed over to the government of Tanzania, a route thought to be preferred by the SFO; secondly that BAE grants the money directly to charities in Tanzania; thirdly that an independent party, possibly the World Bank, is used as an intermediary to distribute the money.
However each solution carries potential problems.
The Tanzanian government could refuse to accept payment from BAE. Taking cash from BAE in connection with the £40m air traffic control deal it brokered could be seen locally as a tacit admission of involvement in what the judge described as “shady activity”.
Nick Hildyard of campaigning group Corner House said: “The tragedy is the government of Tanzania may not even accept the money, as to do so could be seen to be admitting its part in the affair.”
Giving money to local charities could turn reparation into little more than a PR exercise for BAE Systems. No process has been put in place to facilitate the third avenue.
A spokesperson for BAE said the company was actively looking at how it would pay the £29.3m reparation to Tanzania. It said no formula or timetable had been set.

wazee mnaona jinsi itakovyokuwa, tutoe ushauri wa haraka kwa serikali
 
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