Encore un “front”: la Suisse part en guerre contre BAE

Encore un autre “front” pour BAE, décidément bien à l’ouvrage ces derniers temps. Il s’agit de la Suisse, qui vient d’ouvrir sa propre enquête sur les fonds déposés dans des banques suisses, qui seraient de l’argent de la corruption, notamment des marchés Yamamah. Une fois de plus, c’est le Guardian qui donne ces précisions inédites, aujourd’hui.

Les Suisses veulent reprendre l’enquête que le Serious Fraud Office a été contraint d’arrêter le 15 décembre dernier, sur ordre du gouvernement Blair. Cerise sur le gâteau, le texte du Guardian nous apprend que les Suisses vont également travailler sur les accusations de corruption (avec dépôt possible dans des banques suisses) dans des transactions portant sur le chasseur Gripen, construit par SAAB (Suède) mais commercialisé par BAE, — principalement celle qui porte sur la vente très controversée de Gripen à l’Autriche. La réaction de BAE à tous ces bruits préoccupants est convaincante quoique standard : «We will not tolerate bribery.»

«…Federal prosecutors in Bern launched at the weekend their own official investigation into BAE, this time for alleged money laundering. Investigators there will be able to examine Swiss accounts held by billionaire middleman Wafic Said, who is regarded as a potential witness. Mr Said declines to comment.

»Hundreds of millions of pounds are reported to have passed through the accounts, from an offshore company secretly owned by BAE called Poseidon.

»The files have been already gathered by the Swiss authorities.

(…)

»The Swiss announcement comes only days after BAE's chairman, Dick Olver, sought to fend off corruption allegations at the company's AGM, claiming there had been “no bribes”.

»It marks a dramatic widening of the worldwide inquiries into Britain's embattled arms company, and may have a significant impact on its international position.

»The federal prosecutor's office in Bern announced: “Relating to BAE Systems, the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland confirms having opened its own investigation into possible money laundering.”

»The scope of the investigation is being kept secret, the Swiss authorities said. But they disclosed that it followed a report from the MROS, the Swiss money laundering investigative authority. Swiss banks are required by law to report “suspicious transactions” to the MROS.

»Last week, prosecutors from Switzerland also linked up with those from four other European countries at a meeting convened in The Hague by Eurojust, the EU's new anti-organised crime unit.

»The group, from the Serious Fraud Office in Britain, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Austria, said they had joined forces to investigate bribery allegations over bids to supply Anglo-Swedish Gripen fighters. BAE said it had not been aware of the Swiss move. The firm said it had a strict ethical policy: “We will not tolerate bribery.”»

Mis en ligne le 14 mai 2007 à 08H07