U.S. officials examined BAE execs' electronic devices

By Andrea Shalal-Esa

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. officials investigating possible bribes examined, and then returned, electronic equipment carried by two BAE Systems executives when they were served subpoenas last week, a BAE spokesman said on Monday.

Mike Turner, the chief executive of Britain's biggest military contractor, and Sir Nigel Rudd, a BAE non-executive director, were served subpoenas when they entered the United States, company spokesman Greg Caires said.

The U.S. Justice Department is investigating BAE's compliance with anti-bribery laws when it clinched Britain's biggest arms deal, a series of warplane sales to Saudi Arabia valued at up to $80 billion, in the mid-1980s.

When they served the subpoenas, U.S. officials also examined the laptops and wireless handheld devices of both men, said Caires.

He said the equipment was then returned and the men were allowed to resume their business in the United States.

Caires declined to comment on the substance of the subpoenas and said he did not know how long the men's electronic equipment was taken from them.

The U.S. Justice Department declined comment. In June 2007, BAE said it had been notified that the Justice Department had began investigating BAE's compliance with anti-bribery laws, including dealings with Saudi Arabia.

The U.S. investigation came after the British government's Serious Fraud Office dropped an inquiry into the deal in December 2006. Then-Prime Minister Tony Blair said at the time that the probe threatened national security.