Australian police yesterday charged two subsidiaries of the central bank with bribery over alleged payments to officials in Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam between 1999 and 2005 to help win contracts to print banknotes.
Police said in a statement six men had also been charged after a two-year investigation into the case, which has been an embarrassment for the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Securency International Pty Ltd, which is half owned by the bank and which produces the polymer on which banknotes are printed, and the bank’s wholly owned Note Printing Australia Limited (NPA), which prints the banknotes, were charged.
Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens said the men charged no longer had any connection with the companies or the bank, and nobody at the central bank had been accused of any wrongdoing.
“The Reserve Bank condemns in the strongest terms corrupt or questionable behavior of any kind,” Stevens said in a statement. “The Reserve Bank deeply regrets that the governance arrangements and processes in the companies at that time were not able to prevent or detect the alleged behavior that has led to today’s charges.”
Securency chairman Bob Rankin said the company was considering its legal position, adding the board had asked police in 2009 to investigate the bribery allegations and had cooperated fully with the police investigation.
Rankin said since the allegations first arose, Securency had replaced five senior executives and had tightened its compliance with ethical business practices.
NPA referred to the statement by Stevens.
The charges against Securency and NPA carry a maximum fine of A$350,000 (US$375,000) per offense.
The charges against the six men carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and fines of up to A$1.1 million.
The Australian Federal Police said the arrests in Australia followed charges against two people in Malaysia after an investigation by Malaysia’s anti-corruption commission and followed an investigation which started in May 2009 after the issue was referred to them by the chairman of Securency.
Police said the charges allege that between 1999 and 2005, senior managers from Securency and NPA used international sales agents to bribe foreign public officials to help secure banknote contracts.
Police said they would allege an official in Vietnam received a bribe in the form of a university scholarship in return for a banknote contract for Securency.
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