RUCCI
JF-Expert Member
- Oct 6, 2011
- 1,701
- 1,714
David Green QC
Director
Serious Fraud Office
2-4 Cockspur Street
London SW1Y 5BS
Dear David Green
We are writing to urge you to reopen the investigation into Standard Bank and its role in alleged bribery relating to a $600 million bond for our country, Tanzania. Corruption has caused enormous problems for our citizens in Tanzania, and we need to know that the perpetrators of corruption are going to be brought to justice. We deserve to know the full truth about corruption that affects our country.
The $600 million bond that Standard Bank raised for the government of Tanzania has saddled our country with a significant debt. There have been suggestions that the bond, the mandate for which was given to Standard Bank without any competitive bidding, was not a good deal for Tanzania and that we are paying a significantly higher interest rate than we might otherwise have done with a more competitive bond. There has been little transparency over what the money raised by the bond was used for and whether it was used for the public good or for the private gain of government officials.
We are deeply concerned at recent claims made by one of Standard Bank’s employees in Tanzania who is alleged by Standard Bank and your office to have committed bribery, that Standard Bank misrepresented the truth and suppressed material facts about its involvement in order to get the Deferred Prosecution Agreement that your office offered it and that was approved by a Judge in December 2015.
We would like to see all those involved in this corruption scandal that has tainted our country brought to justice. We are pleased that the SFO has said it will assist the Tanzanian authorities to bring those involved in Tanzania to justice. But we are concerned that the full truth of whether individuals in the UK were complicit in the corruption has not been established because the SFO did not complete its investigation into the allegations.
In particular, the SFO did not seek to establish independently from the company, for instance by interviewing those alleged to have paid the bribes, whether the UK employees’ version of events was correct. By relying on the company’s version of events, and by forestalling its investigation, the SFO has denied the public of Tanzania the full story of how this corruption was committed.
This is not the first time that the SFO has entered into an agreement with a company in relation to corruption in Tanzania that has left us with a bitter taste in our mouth.
In 2010, the settlement with BAE Systems over alleged corruption in a radar deal left many Tanzanians feeling that the war on corruption is merely words. Those in the UK who commit or are complicit in corruption appear to us untouchable.
We are also concerned in this case that the compensation offered does not reflect the harm caused by the alleged corruption. It doesn’t appear that the SFO put any expert evidence to the court about the opportunity cost that was lost by our country by not pursuing other more favourable options for instance through competitive bidding. The bribes allegedly paid by Standard Bank’s subsidiary were paid in order to close off other options on the table.
We urge you to place this letter and the court documents from Tanzania that allege that Standard Bank suppressed material facts in order to get a Deferred Prosecution Agreement before Justice Leveson.
Yours sincerely
SIGN HERE
Director
Serious Fraud Office
2-4 Cockspur Street
London SW1Y 5BS
Dear David Green
We are writing to urge you to reopen the investigation into Standard Bank and its role in alleged bribery relating to a $600 million bond for our country, Tanzania. Corruption has caused enormous problems for our citizens in Tanzania, and we need to know that the perpetrators of corruption are going to be brought to justice. We deserve to know the full truth about corruption that affects our country.
The $600 million bond that Standard Bank raised for the government of Tanzania has saddled our country with a significant debt. There have been suggestions that the bond, the mandate for which was given to Standard Bank without any competitive bidding, was not a good deal for Tanzania and that we are paying a significantly higher interest rate than we might otherwise have done with a more competitive bond. There has been little transparency over what the money raised by the bond was used for and whether it was used for the public good or for the private gain of government officials.
We are deeply concerned at recent claims made by one of Standard Bank’s employees in Tanzania who is alleged by Standard Bank and your office to have committed bribery, that Standard Bank misrepresented the truth and suppressed material facts about its involvement in order to get the Deferred Prosecution Agreement that your office offered it and that was approved by a Judge in December 2015.
We would like to see all those involved in this corruption scandal that has tainted our country brought to justice. We are pleased that the SFO has said it will assist the Tanzanian authorities to bring those involved in Tanzania to justice. But we are concerned that the full truth of whether individuals in the UK were complicit in the corruption has not been established because the SFO did not complete its investigation into the allegations.
In particular, the SFO did not seek to establish independently from the company, for instance by interviewing those alleged to have paid the bribes, whether the UK employees’ version of events was correct. By relying on the company’s version of events, and by forestalling its investigation, the SFO has denied the public of Tanzania the full story of how this corruption was committed.
This is not the first time that the SFO has entered into an agreement with a company in relation to corruption in Tanzania that has left us with a bitter taste in our mouth.
In 2010, the settlement with BAE Systems over alleged corruption in a radar deal left many Tanzanians feeling that the war on corruption is merely words. Those in the UK who commit or are complicit in corruption appear to us untouchable.
We are also concerned in this case that the compensation offered does not reflect the harm caused by the alleged corruption. It doesn’t appear that the SFO put any expert evidence to the court about the opportunity cost that was lost by our country by not pursuing other more favourable options for instance through competitive bidding. The bribes allegedly paid by Standard Bank’s subsidiary were paid in order to close off other options on the table.
We urge you to place this letter and the court documents from Tanzania that allege that Standard Bank suppressed material facts in order to get a Deferred Prosecution Agreement before Justice Leveson.
Yours sincerely
SIGN HERE