BIGON Sandbank

Following the announcement last week that the defence firm BAE Systems is to be fined £286 million as part of a corruption probe, campaigners have said they are "shocked and angered" by the decision.

On Friday the UK defence company agreed to pay the fine to settle a long-running corruption case made by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and the US department of justice.

The firm said it would plead guilty to two charges following an investigation into contracts that it won in countries including Tanzania, the Czech Republic, Romania and South Africa.

Under the agreement with the Department of Justice, which requires court approval, BAE said it would plead guilty to one charge of conspiring to make false statements to the US government in connection with certain regulatory filings and undertakings, and would also plead guilty to one charge of breach of duty to keep accounting records in relation to payments made to a former marketing adviser in Tanzania.

As part of the settlement, BAE agreed to pay a penalty of £30 million in the UK- comprising a fine to be determined by the court with the balance paid as a charitable payment for the benefit of Tanzania.

BAE chairman Dick Olver said: "The company very much regrets and accepts full responsibility for these past shortcomings.

"These settlements enable the company to deal finally with significant legacy issues."

But the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) and The Corner House, a group which aims to "support democratic and community movements for environmental and social justice", has said as a result of the settlement there will be no opportunity to discover the truth behind alleged bribery and corruption in the BAE deals.

The organisation said that whilst the acceptance of guilt in relation to Tanzania is welcome, the investigations relating to other countries including South Africa and the Czech Republic were "far more significant".

Kaye Stearman, spokesperson for Campaign Against the Arms Trade, said: "CAAT is outraged and angry that the allegations about BAE will not be aired in a criminal court and that the SFO has accepted a plea bargain relating only to the smallest deal.

"After the government stopped the SFO’s inquiry into the company’s Saudi deals, it was even more important the truth about its dealings in central and eastern Europe and Africa was made public. One day a former BAE agent appears in court charged with corruption, the next BAE is let off for an accounting misdemeanour."

While Nicholas Hildyard for The Corner House added: "The company’s admission obviously calls into question its repeated denials of any wrong doing."