Financial Times: Bahrain Royal Accused in 6m$ UK Corruption Case
Local Editor
Member of Bahrain's royal family has been named as a co-conspirator in a UK fraud probe into deals made by a London-based businessman man between Alcoa, the US aluminum group, and state-backed Bahrain Aluminum (Alba).
"Financial Times" newspaper reported Sunday that "Sheikh Isa bin Ali al-Khalifa, cousin and adviser to the Kingdom's prime minister, has been accused by the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) of accepting 6m$ in bribes from Victor Dahdaleh."
Dahdaleh, a British and Canadian national residing in Belgravia, is alleged to have made payments of bribes to officials of Aluminum Bahrain (Alba), a smelting company in Bahrain with majority state ownership.
The charge sheet, obtained by the newspaper, informs that "Dahdaleh paid $5,999,944 to Isa - then chairman of Alba and oil minister."
"The three alleged payments were made between March 2003 and June 2004," the newspaper quoted the charge sheet as saying.
The charge sheet also said Dahdaleh allegedly made two corrupt payments in 2004 to Alba's former chief executive, Bruce Hall, totaling about $384,000. A third alleged payment of £852,000 was also made to Hall, the paper reported.
Alba said last week that it had suffered "substantial losses from the series of transactions at the centre of the UK fraud investigation."
On Oct 24, the SFO said Dahdaleh had been charged with corruption offences and released on police bail to appear at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court on Oct 31.
"Today marks a critical turning point in the investigation that began nearly five years ago. The conduct of Victor Dahdaleh, Alcoa and others resulted in substantial losses to Alba and its shareholders," Mahmood Al-Kooheji, Alba's chairman, said in an emailed statement.
He said the investigation revolved around an alleged bribery scheme involving the sale price for finished aluminum sold by Alba.
"Our aim, from the start, has been to recover the very large amounts of money that were unlawfully taken from Alba and from Bahrain by these corrupt activities."
Alba is ranked as one of the largest aluminum smelters in the world, and produces more than 860,000 metric tons per annum of aluminum.
Source: Financial Times, Edited by moqawama.org
Member of Bahrain's royal family has been named as a co-conspirator in a UK fraud probe into deals made by a London-based businessman man between Alcoa, the US aluminum group, and state-backed Bahrain Aluminum (Alba).
"Financial Times" newspaper reported Sunday that "Sheikh Isa bin Ali al-Khalifa, cousin and adviser to the Kingdom's prime minister, has been accused by the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) of accepting 6m$ in bribes from Victor Dahdaleh."
Dahdaleh, a British and Canadian national residing in Belgravia, is alleged to have made payments of bribes to officials of Aluminum Bahrain (Alba), a smelting company in Bahrain with majority state ownership.
The charge sheet, obtained by the newspaper, informs that "Dahdaleh paid $5,999,944 to Isa - then chairman of Alba and oil minister."
"The three alleged payments were made between March 2003 and June 2004," the newspaper quoted the charge sheet as saying.
The charge sheet also said Dahdaleh allegedly made two corrupt payments in 2004 to Alba's former chief executive, Bruce Hall, totaling about $384,000. A third alleged payment of £852,000 was also made to Hall, the paper reported.
Alba said last week that it had suffered "substantial losses from the series of transactions at the centre of the UK fraud investigation."
On Oct 24, the SFO said Dahdaleh had been charged with corruption offences and released on police bail to appear at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court on Oct 31.
"Today marks a critical turning point in the investigation that began nearly five years ago. The conduct of Victor Dahdaleh, Alcoa and others resulted in substantial losses to Alba and its shareholders," Mahmood Al-Kooheji, Alba's chairman, said in an emailed statement.
He said the investigation revolved around an alleged bribery scheme involving the sale price for finished aluminum sold by Alba.
"Our aim, from the start, has been to recover the very large amounts of money that were unlawfully taken from Alba and from Bahrain by these corrupt activities."
Alba is ranked as one of the largest aluminum smelters in the world, and produces more than 860,000 metric tons per annum of aluminum.
Source: Financial Times, Edited by moqawama.org
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