The Australian Federal Police have been forced to reopen two international bribery investigations because their original investigation has been found to be nothing more than a joke by the OECD. The AFP have a long and recent history of sweeping international bribery by Australian companies under the carpet. This includes but is not limited to the AWB / Saddam Hussein bribery scandal and the Reserve Bank of Australia bribery scandal.
This site follows the Federal Police closely because their criminal conduct of concealing crimes goes way beyond international bribery, such as covering up judicial corruption which I have written about previously with documented evidence. (Click here to read the post)
Firstly though, the two Australian companies concerned currently are OZ Minerals and Cochlear. It is only after international criticism by the OECD that the federal police have decided to reopen the case.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development reported in October it was ”seriously concerned” about ”extremely low” enforcement of anti-foreign bribery laws in Australia.
The leader of the Australian Federal Police’s special references unit, Commander Errol Raiser, told Fairfax Media last week: ”We are going to review a medical equipment case and [what the OECD called] the joint-venture buyout case.” (Click here to read more)
OZ Minerals are accused of bribing three board members in Cambodia of its joint-venture partner, Shin Ha, in 2009 when it bought the company. Oz Minerals paid the three board members $US1 million.
The OECD reported that :
”The AFP did not inquire into key matters that could have corroborated the allegations, such as whether the board members were indeed related to foreign public officials; the due diligence conducted by the company was sound; and the buy-out proceeds were channelled to the board members.”
It said the case ”concretely illustrates” concerns ”the AFP may have closed … cases before thoroughly investigating the allegations”. Now where have we heard that before?
Cochlear are accused of bribing Portuguese officials to win a tender to supply public hospitals.
The OECD reported 28 instances of alleged foreign bribery involving Australian companies, and criticised the actions of federal police and corporate regulator the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in many of the cases.
The Reserve Bank note-printing scandal is the only criminal prosecution since the anti-foreign bribery laws were introduced in 1999. (Click here to read more)
It must be noted that the federal police tried to sweep the Reserve Bank of Australia bribery scandal under the carpet but their hand was forced when The Age ran stories on the matter which in turn forced the Reserve Bank board to refer it to the Federal Police. I will do another post on it in th near future. (Click here to read the post I did on it in June 1011)
As for the AWB / Saddam Hussein bribery scandal, allegations that it was swept under the carpet are due to be tested in the Federal Court of Australia this year. The allegation comes from the then lead AFP investigator Ross Fusca. (Click here to read the post that I did last year) It is set down for hearing in Melbourne before Justice Kenny starting on the 27 May 2013 for five days. Given the OECD report and the Reserve Bank scandal I think the chances of it being settled out of court would be extremely high as the federal police will not want further dirty laundry being aired in public.
Add this to other scandals were the federal police have failed their duty, it is time for a Royal Commission into the federal police.
For those who do not know the federal police are headed up by Australia’s number one criminal Commissioner Tony Negus. He is guilty of covering up more crimes than the federal police actually solve.
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Categories: Australian Federal Police, Tony Negus
yes i know it’s all corrupt and wrong and should be stopped, but think about this for a moment…
question: why are other companies (particularly from the USA) so large, profitable and powerful?
answer: because they engage in exactly the same kind of conduct, often with the full support and knowledge of their governments and law enforcement agencies.
another question: why doesn’t the OECD complain so much (if at all) about bribery from other (particularly US) companies? my gut feeling here is that there is more going on behind the scenes than what we are being told. it seems like an opportunity to create a fuss over a few australian companies who basically beat them at their own game.
like i said, corruption/bribery is all wrong, but let’s not stamp it out in our own back yard and effectively shoot ourselves in the foot while giving other greedy nations a free pass to do as they like.
just giving a different angle here, always good to have a look.
If we are going to do something about corruption we can only see black and white, once we can see grey we may as well give up and allow corruption to flourish.
Thank Our Almighty God that the public has someone like you on board to get the truth out……. corruption is corruption. I’ve seen it far and wide…… Some Senior Police, some Local Court Staff, Judicial Corruption,Corrupt Solicitors Child Protection DO NOT PROTECT CHILDREN this is happening across the globe… stuff where do we all go to from here… Keep up the good work Shane. CORRUPTION IS RIFE EVERYWHERE I
In Australia we call inducements commissions and agent’s fees or spotter’s fees. While trading with organisations with an entirely different culture to our own, we are obliged to resort to inducements of one kind or another in order to gain or keep access to that market for our products. Over a ten year period, I refused to be involved in “inducements” and, as a result did little or no business in those markets. Perhaps when their culture is elevated to similar levels of self-righteousness and naivety in our own standards, we can do business with organisations in those countries. Focussing on commercial incidents seems to hide the actions of our Foreign Affairs behaviour in their propensity to deliver millions of dollars in “aid” to corrupt governments in un-developed countries. Most of that aid, is known to end up in the possession of a corrupt administration, but our government still feels good about it. NGO charitable funding going into corruptly run third world countries often ends up in the wrong hands as well. There is no guilt attached to giving tax payer’s money to despots, thieves and criminals, as long as they hold government office. So, what did the AWB do that was so different?
Yep I totally agree with you, the world view of Australia and Australian’s in particularly the last 20 years or so is that we are a country of soft and weak people who can be easily bluffed, bullied or intimidated into or out of anything, and its probably true!
Ken, I don’t believe that the World View for 20 years , is that we are soft and weak! That view would only relate to 2007, when Rudd was elected. Prior to Rudd and Labor , we had a strong Leader and govt. and the WORLD knew it! Shane , thanks for keeping us up to date on corruption in the Federal Police Force…is Negus still running the show? I hope that the Coalition orders investigations into the Labor/Unions and Police, but how they will manage with this Mafia Mob, God only knows!
Shane as you are well aware corruption is already flourishing and our own government is so corrupt not one of them could lie-straight in bed, it is a sad state of affairs when someone like you has to straighten up the world with you own time and money. Bent police who should be catching these criminals not aiding and abetting them.. The whole management stinks from the ground to the top.and we sit there like bloody mushrooms and vote them in.It would take a big tsunami to.wash away the filth in this lucky country. Allan from Myalup.WA.
Welcome back Shane hopefully you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year and that this year brings you all you could hope for and more
Regards Patti
No need for a reply
So what is new? their organized crime , terrorising the public , conspire to prevent the course of justice , fail a duty of care , misuse public office , and fail to account .
Some years ago a friend of mine worked as an international salesman for a group of federal government factories that have since been privatised. One of our near neighbours, the one known for its recalcitrance, was interested in making a purchase and obliquely requested a bribe, which was knocked back by my friend. A French coy salesman was not like minded and the order eventually went to Paris. My honest friend did not have his contract renewed.
I often hear how corrupt other countries are! I believe it is the western culture that corrupts other cultures. Looks like the Feds are on the take again! In reply to Colin Spencer the USA gives China aid money when the USA is in debt to China. So it is aid money for what? No Doubt Australia is the same
big money talks always. more and more like USA every day
I and 400+ members of BFCSA, reported criminal conduct by banks to the AFP – we each received a generic email saying nothing to do with us – despite banking law coming under Commonwealth powers and there obviously being fraud involved. All victims’ documents clearly show predatory lending with the banks involved in changing the financial details to fit the financial details to the amount of the loan. In our case we dealt directly with the bank and their internal document states “although the above table shows customer cannot meet notational repayments” and then goes on to state that we had property they could sell (this is against the law in Australia). We were also not informed by the acting agribusiness manager that NAB had rejected our loan application; the acting agribusiness manager simply re-applied with dodgy figures – so even more fraud – under Commonwealth law and no, the AFP did not feel it their duty to investigate. My story has more fraud and bribery to it – all details given to the AFP, it didn’t help. For anyone who thinks there is no corruption in Australia – time to open your eyes, it is there from the top down – and they’re all stealing from us and pretending there’s no problems.
Thanks for keeping on this Shane, it’s much appreciated 🙂
Like you all have said….has been going on for years in our own backyard…Early 80’s, I worked as Logistics Manager for a Huge Australian Company that had subsidiaries in most States and was like a ‘Snakes and Ladders’ as to who owned whom..
My Transport spend even in the early 80’s was over $8 mill….anyway, every two years the contract is out for tender….and one day this guy made an appointment to see me, he owned his own Transport Company and his verbal offer was compatible to the current spend…..We had lunch to discuss further details….(Lunch then was still accepted as part of business discussions)…the crux of the conversation was that if I gave him/his Company the contract I could enjoy $100k/annum (2 years) paid either by cash or objects….I rejected his offer as it was against my ethics and I reported the incident to my Managing Director.
Not a month had passed and I was made ‘redundant’…job well done, but we are downsizing….sorry mate.
I found out from my friends at the Company a few months later that the Transport Contract had been given to this weasel, and the authorisation came from the very Managing Director that virtually sacked me…..$200k would fit nicely in his pocket………
As luck would have it I found another position with a larger Company not too long after I was pushed out and with my new Employer had a few “run ins” with the Transport Company Owner a few times, but, he knew where I stood.
I know I should have reported this but at the time I had a young family, new job and more responsibilities.
Now retired and reading both Local and World news…………………it has not changed….the money has just gotten bigger and the number of receivers have increased.
Well done M8.
Oz
That’s a really depressing story mate, reminded me of my 5 year stint in QLD Transport, because I wasn’t willing to play politics and always spoke up when they did something wrong.
The complaints would go to our HR team that was also our youngest team, filled with young 20 years olds and a teenager! They of course were all nice and cosy with the big wigs up top, probably the entire reason they made the HR team so young, easy to manipulate.
I got let go after they had enough, the idiot manager had already laid out how to hire before the interview process (out of 3 of us, I was the only one not to get a position, a position I already held!). The genius hired two fresh graduates from uni who had both never programmed in their life to replace me as a database programmer.
You can guess what my old team reported to me a few weeks later, the entire group stopped work as the database fell apart and no new data could be processed, costing Queenslander’s tens of thousands of dollars in wages.
I will never work for the government again, too stressful and depressing knowing how bad corruption is
Every other ‘Government Department’ or stat body has to pay its way. In that respect the police at all levels are just another business structure with the authority to screw its ‘customers’ if the mood strikes. You only have to look as far as speed cameras, on the spot fines and customs duty to see that. (In many cases these are alleged crimes you cannot disprove and you are already declared guilty just on the word of an officer).
I’ve seen the doco on Schapelle Corby. Despite what anyone thinks about her , it is crystal clear that the AFP perverted the course of justice and denied her due process.
The AFP have been corrupt for years ~ just look very closely at the Shapelle Corby case & their involvement in covering up the truth even when substantial & air tight evidence was presented as to her innocence & the corruption involved. This includes the absolute complicit involvement in this corruption by the Australian Government.