Two Australians have been accused of bribing Sri Lankan officials to secure multi-million dollar infrastructure contracts.
Australian police arrested the couple last month after a decade-long investigation that spanned several countries.
The men, aged 67 and 71, worked for a company accused of wrongdoing in South Asian countries.
They have yet to respond to the charges and will appear in court on Tuesday.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) say the men arranged more than A$304,000 ($190,000, £172,000) in bribes to government officials between 2009 and 2016.
The bribes were allegedly paid in pursuit of two A$14 million Sri Lankan projects which police did not name.
The charges follow an investigation into SMEC International Pty Ltd, an Australia-based engineering firm, involving authorities from the US, Canada, India and other countries.
More arrests and charges are possible, AFP said.
“Corruption undermines fair competition and can have disastrous consequences for developing countries, global poverty reduction and development efforts,” said Detective Supt Helen Schneider.
Originally known as Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation, SMEC was formed in 1949 to build a legendary Australian infrastructure project. Since then, the company has grown to 5,400 employees in many countries.
In 2017, the World Bank temporarily banned SMEC and four affiliates in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka from bidding for any of its contracts.
The World Bank said it uncovered evidence linking the company to alleged “improper payments” in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
At the time, a spokesman for SMEC said the allegations did not relate to Australian projects and that the company would continue to strengthen its corporate integrity compliance programs.
Protests have erupted in Sri Lanka this year over corruption allegations and the country’s worst economic crisis in history.
Add Comment