Former Securency manager convicted of corruption
11 May, 2016 | News Releases
A former manager of a polymer banknote manufacturer, Securency PTY Ltd, was today convicted of four counts of making corrupt payments to a foreign official contrary to the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906. He was acquitted on two counts.
Peter Chapman, 54, was convicted after a five week trial at Southwark Crown Court, following a joint investigation by the Serious Fraud Office and the Australian Federal Police into Securency International PTY Ltd.
Mr Chapman paid bribes to an agent of Nigerian Security Printing and Minting PLC in order to secure orders for the purchase of reams of polymer substrate from Securency. The total value of the bribes, he was convicted of paying to the agent was approximately US$205,000.
Commenting on the conviction, Director of the SFO David Green CB QC said:
“This has been a long, detailed investigation and a complex prosecution involving assistance from a wide range of jurisdictions. Crimes like this damage the UK’s commercial reputation and this conviction shows that such activity will not be tolerated.”
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and Securency referred allegations of corruption to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in May 2009. The allegations were that Securency, at the time jointly owned by RBA and UK manufacturing firm Innovia Films Ltd, paid bribes to foreign government officials via agents in order to secure contracts with certain governments in Asia and Africa for the printing of banknotes.
The SFO would like to thank the Australian Federal Police, the National Crime Agency, the Metropolitan Police, the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Central Authority of Nigeria and authorities in Brazil, the Seychelles, South Africa, Canada and Spain for their assistance in this case.
Mr Chapman will be sentenced at 10am tomorrow, 12 May 2016, at Southwark Crown Court.
Notes to editors:
1) The trial began on 4 April 2016.
2) Mr Chapman, the manager of Securency’s Africa office, was arrested at Heathrow Airport in April 2015, having been extradited from Brazil. He was charged with six offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 on 30 April 2015.
3) The SFO was represented by John McGuinness QC and Natasha Barnes; Mr Chapman was represented by David Spens QC and Raj Chada.