8th Sep 2014 06:45
LONDON (Alliance News) - The investigation being conducted by the UK's Serious Fraud Office into bribery allegations involving Rolls-Royce PLC took a turn over the weekend, after it emerged two men arrested in dawn raids in February had their bail lifted, an indication they are likely to play no further part in the inquiry, the Sunday Times reported.
Sudhir Choudrie and his son, Bhanu, were detained in February as part of a probe into bribery allegations made against the FTSE 100 aerospace company in Indonesia and China. Rolls-Royce was accused two years ago of paying USD20 million in bribes to Tommy Suharto, the son of the former Indonesian president.
The arrests had caused confusion amongst executives in the aerospace industry, as the allegations against Rolls-Royce did not involve its dealings in India, where Choudrie is from, the Sunday Times said. Authorities there had previously investigated Sudhir as part of a probe into deals struck by Finmeccanica SpA, the Italian industrial conglomerate, on suspicions he acted as an intermediary for the company, the newspaper said. The investigations was dropped and no charges were brought against Choudrie.
The Serious Fraud Office declined to comment on the story.
http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/business/Companies/article1455790.ece
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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