The new government has ordered an investigation in to alleged corrupt deal of paying bribes by French plane maker Airbus through agents in Sri Lanka to stack the decks in its favour and win contracts.
In a statement, Transparency International Sri Lanka said that Airbus reached a record 3.6 Billion Euro settlement with US, UK and French authorities following a 4 year investigation into allegations of bribery and corruption.
Transparency International Sri Lanka noted the importance of paying compensation to the countries who are the victims of corrupt deals involving Airbus.
The statement of facts issued on 31 January 2020 as part of the Deferred Prosecution Agreement reached between Airbus and the prosecuting authorities, indicates that Airbus had agreed to pay out a sum of 16.84 Million US dollars to a company registered in Brunei under the wife of an executive at SriLankan Airlines.
Furthermore, the statement reads that Airbus had paid out a sum of 2 Million US dollars of the agreed amount to the company. The statement of facts is available here.
“Between 1 July 2011 and 1 June 2015 Airbus SE failed to prevent persons associated with Airbus SE from bribing others concerned with the purchase of aircraft by SriLankan Airlines from Airbus, namely directors and/or employees of SriLankan Airlines, where the said bribery was intended to obtain or retain business or advantage in the conduct of business for Airbus SE,” the statement of facts noted.
TISL Executive Director Asoka Obeyesekere said, “It is important to recall that the fallout from this deal is widely reported to have cost in excess of 17 billion rupees (USD 116mn [2015]) in cancellation penalties.
He added that given that the evidence now shows that corruption was involved in the procurement process, it is imperative that action is taken both internationally and locally to ensure that Airbus and its agents are held accountable for losses inflicted on Sri Lanka.”
(LI)