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Bribe investigation into Australian bank note contracts07 Oct 2010Source: The Age The Reserve Bank is reeling after federal police and overseas agencies launched global raids last night to uncover evidence of corruption and bribery involving Securency, the RBA subsidiary that makes banknotes. Raids in Melbourne, Britain, Spain and other countries targeted homes and offices of people with alleged links to the payment of millions of dollars in bribes by Securency to foreign officials, including politicians and bankers, between the late 1990s and 2009. An AFP inquiry, codenamed Operation Rune, is investigating allegations that bribes were paid by overseas agents or middlemen working for Securency to win contracts to produce polymer notes for countries in Africa, Asia and South America. The Age reported that the AFP had uncovered documents suggesting a senior trade official engaged in highly unethical behaviour to help win Securency contracts overseas. In a separate case, a former Securency employee has previously told The Age that a consultant working for Austrade in Asia encouraged him to 'hand out white envelopes to officials' to win contracts for the RBA firm. Securency managing director Myles Curtis and company secretary John Ellery left the firm this year after an audit found almost $50 million had been paid between 2003 and 2009 to overseas middlemen. Read more here |
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