Guardian: (UK) Attorney-general knew of BAE and the £1bn. Then concealed it

Source: The Guardian

Attorney-general knew of BAE and the £1bn. Then concealed it

Goldsmith hid secret money transfers from international
anti-corruption organisation

David Leigh and Rob Evans
Friday June 8, 2007
The Guardian

British investigators were ordered by the attorney-general Lord Goldsmith
to conceal from international anti-bribery watchdogs the existence of
payments totalling more than £1bn to a Saudi prince, the Guardian can
disclose.

The money was paid into bank accounts controlled by Prince Bandar for
his role in setting up BAE Systems with Britain's biggest ever arms deal.
Details of the transfers to accounts in the US were discovered by officers
from the Serious Fraud Office during its long-running investigation into
BAE. But its inquiry was halted suddenly last December.

The Guardian has established that the attorney-general warned colleagues
last year that "government complicity" in the payment of the sums was in
danger of being revealed if the SFO probe was allowed to continue.

The abandonment of the inquiry caused an outcry which provoked the
world's anti-corruption watchdog, the OECD, to launch its own
investigation into the circumstances behind the decision.

But when OECD representatives sought to learn more about the background
to the move at private meetings in January and March they were not given
full disclosure by British officials, according to sources.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/baefiles/story/0,,2098232,00.html