Defense Company BAE Being Investigated For Money Laundering

Switzerland investigating BAE over money laundering: report

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Switzer..._05142007.html

Published: Monday May 14, 2007

Swiss authorities are investigating Britain's biggest defence manufacturer, BAE Systems, for alleged money laundering, a report said Monday.

"Relating to BAE Systems, the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland confirms having opened its own investigation into possible money laundering," the federal prosecutor's office in Bern told The Guardian newspaper.

Prosecutors did not disclose the scope of the investigation, but said it followed a report from the Swiss money laundering investigative authority, MROS.

The report details the latest in a series of corruption allegations to hit BAE in recent months, with Britain's anti-corruption watchdog the Serious Fraud Office investigating the company's activities in the Czech Republic, Romania, Chile, Qatar, South Africa and Tanzania.

BAE told The Guardian that it was not aware of the Swiss decision, saying it had a strict ethical policy and "will not tolerate bribery."