Following the 2011 bribery allegations involving staff at Reserve Bank of Australia off-shoots Securency and Note Printing Australia, a number of groups have become concerned about possible breaches by their employees.
Several large Australian public companies have come forward after internal audits and provided federal police with information implicating themselves in possible foreign bribery offences. The companies are thought to be involved in mining, exploration and other sectors in Africa and Asia.
Leighton Holdings Ltd is the first big Australian company to publicly admit that it has alerted the federal police. The alleged breach involves a Singapore-based subsidiary, Leighton Offshore Pvt, which was bidding for work to expand Iraq’s oil export facilities. The company is also involved in court action with a former employee accused of corrupt practices.
Further to this, evidence of possible illegality by senior Reserve Bank officials and business figures in relation to Australia’s banknote bribery scandal has been referred by the federal police to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission.
