Show Offs, UK Corruption?

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Adam naming the Beasts

William Blake (1757-1827)

Photo Credit: Glasgow Museums [CC BY-NC-ND]

(The Times, Births, Marriages and Deaths.)

De Piro O’Connell.

On 11^th of January 2019 to Katsiaryna (nee Kavelich) and James, a daughter, Alexandra Eirene, sister to Minnie and Falafel, Labna and Bimbi, Othello and Ambrym.

Surely a coded message?

The Serious Fraud Office

Francis Bacon, Viscount St Alban. unknown artist

Photo Credit: National Portrait Gallery, London [CC BY-NC-ND]

The Serious Fraud Office has abandoned two of its largest investigations in a decision called “extraordinary” by one city lawyer.

The SFO dropped a six-year inquiry into alleged bribery and corruption by individuals associated with Rolls Royce, as well as a five year enquiry into alleged bribery by Glaxosmithkline.The decision was taken by the SFO’s new director, Lisa Osofsky who pledged to review the agency’s caseload after taking on the job in August.

However, it has attracted criticism from anti-corruption campaigners and fraud lawyers who challenged the SFO over an apparent inability to prosecute individuals whose employers had been linked to criminal activity.

Ms Osofsky said: “After an extensive and careful examination, I have concluded that there is either insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction or it is not in the public interest to bring a prosecution in these cases.”  

…The SFO will not seek to prosecute anyone in relation to Rolls despite securing a deferred prosecution agreement with the engineering group in January 2017 in which the company agreed to pay a £497 million settlement.

Rolls…was accused of corrupt conduct over three decades, such as paying bribes to middlemen to secure orders in seven countries including Indonesia, Russia and China. Sarah Wallace, a partner at Irwin Mitchell, the law firm said: “It is extraordinary that the SFO are unable to charge any individual subjects in relation to Rolls-Royce, given the scale of the allegations in the [deferred prosecution agreements]

The investigation into Glaxo began in 2014 after the pharmaceutical firm was fined three billion yuan (£297 million) in China for paying bribes to doctors to use its drugs.

(The Times, 2019)

Have I got this right? These firms pay the immense fines, so basically plead guilty, but no individuals are charged. Isn’t that extraordinary?