Return Of Undertaker
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- Jun 12, 2012
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An Airbus plane taxies to takeoff in Riga International Airport on Jan. 17.
Fallout from the Airbus bribery scandal reverberated worldwide on Monday as the head of one of its top buyers temporarily stood down and investigations were launched in countries aggrieved at being dragged into the increasingly political row.
Airbus agreed on Friday to pay a record $4 billion in fines after reaching a plea bargain with prosecutors in Britain, France and United States over alleged bribery and corruption stretching back at least 15 years.
Now, it is bracing for a rocky period with airlines and foreign governments, some of which have complained they were not forewarned about the charges and claimed little knowledge of the sums of money swirling around their fleet purchases. “Friday was the end of Act I, now we are seeing the beginning of Act II with possible repercussions on airline relationships,” said a person close to the company.
Airbus declined to comment further after welcoming the agreement on Friday as an opportunity to “turn the page.”
Prosecution documents agreed by Airbus detailed a global network of agents or middlemen in transactions across the group’s business and run from a cell in Paris where the group had part of its headquarters, split between France and Germany.
Outlines of the operation and its annual budget of €250 million ($276 million) to €300 million had been reported by Reuters.
Prosecutors also cited parallel projects or investments alongside some negotiations, including the sponsorship by Airbus’ then-parent EADS of a Formula One team owned by top officials at AirAsia, a major customer.
Shares in AirAsia fell up to 11%.
AirAsia Group said Chief Executive Tony Fernandes and Chairman Kamarudin Meranun would step aside for at least two months while both the airline and government probed allegations.
In a joint statement, the two co-founders of Asia’s largest budget airline denied any wrongdoing or misconduct.
“We would not harm the very companies that we spent our entire lives building up to their present global status.”
Fernandes, one of aviation’s best known executives, already faces domestic pressure after backing former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in 2018 elections. Najib was ousted by Mahathir Mohamad, prompting Fernandes to apologize for backing the loser.
In Ghana, a political storm erupted over accusations of Airbus payments to a relative of a government official in connection with the purchase of military transport planes.
Britain’s Serious Fraud Office said the agent had no aerospace experience, having previously worked in soccer merchandising and as a facilities manager. It did not say what the agent, who had been helped by two unnamed British television actors, did with the money.
