黑洞社区

Consultant Sweett Group has confirmed it has been charged with a bribery offence by the Serious Fraud Office.

, following an investigation by the bribery watchdog into allegations related to the firm鈥檚 Middle East division.

Sweett chief executive Douglas McCormick said: 鈥淲e welcome this development which brings closure on the Middle East legacy issues a step closer allowing the Group to progress unencumbered in the future.

鈥淭his is an important next step in the strategic turnaround of the business.鈥�

The charge has been brought under section 7(1) of the UK鈥檚 Bribery Act 2010 - 鈥渇ailing to prevent an associated person bribing another to obtain or retain business for the company鈥�. A charge of this nature will not result in a debarment from bidding for public sector work, Sweett confirmed.

In the firm鈥檚 update earlier this month, the firm also disclosed it has decided to exit the Middle East and restructure into five new divisions, as it posted an increased half-year pre-tax loss of 拢548,000 for the six months to September 2015.

In this earlier statement Sweett said the Serious Fraud Office鈥檚 (SFO) investigation into the firm - prompted by bribery allegations first published in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in June 2013 - was 鈥渁t an end鈥�.

Sweett said that during its own investigations, 鈥渢wo related contracts within the Middle East were identified as suspicious and were duly reported to the SFO鈥�. These contracts were 鈥渆ntered into in 2013鈥�, the firm鈥檚 chief executive Douglas McCormick said.

This led to an admission by Sweett of an offence under section 7(1) of the UK鈥檚 Bribery Act 2010 - 鈥渇ailing to prevent an associated person bribing another to obtain or retain business for the company鈥�.

黑洞社区 understands the bribery offence Sweett disclosed to the SFO is unrelated to the original WSJ allegations.