UK brings first prosecution for corruption abroad

By Michael Holden

LONDON (Reuters) - A bridge-building firm accused of breaching United Nations sanctions has became the first company to be prosecuted by Britain for overseas corruption, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said.

Mabey & Johnson has been charged over a voluntary disclosure to the SFO that the company had tried to influence decision-makers for contracts in Jamaica and Ghana between 1993 and 2001.

It was charged over applications for contracts under the Iraq oil-for-food programme in 2001/02 in breach of U.N. sanctions, the SFO said.

At a hearing at London's Westminster Magistrates Court on Friday, the company indicated it would plead guilty to the offences.

Five of the company's eight directors stepped down in early 2008 after the company approached the SFO to say it may have engaged in corrupt practices and a new management team was installed.

"We deeply regret the past conduct of our company, and we have committed to making a fresh start, wiping the slate clean of these offences," the firm's new Managing Director Peter Lloyd said in a statement.

"At a hearing expected later this year, the court may order the company to pay a financial penalty, as well as the costs of an independent monitor and legal costs.

"We have also agreed to pay appropriate compensation as a further expression of our regret."