BAE denies £60m Saudi slush fund

[seemslikeadream]

David Leigh and Rob Evans
Wednesday October 6, 2004
The Guardian

The arms giant BAE yesterday denied it had engaged in false accounting over an alleged £60m Saudi slush fund, as its share price fell and the Serious Fraud Office prepared to interview witnesses.
BBC2's Money Programme last night gave a detailed account of the slush fund, which is alleged to have operated for more than 12 years until 2002.

Three whistleblowers gave interviews, two from front companies which made the payments to Saudi officials, and the third a former BAE security officer who attempted to investigate in the 1990s.

The allegations are backed by documents from BAE's own files recording that its chief operating officer, Steven Mogford, authorised covert payments of millions of pounds via false invoices.

A large quantity of documents already seized by Ministry of Defence police show cash transfers, luxury foreign hotel stays, yachts and Rolls-Royces being provided on a spectacular scale, largely to the Saudi official in charge of continuing arms purchases, Prince Turki bin Nasser.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1320577,00.html