Defence supplier accepts responsibility for failure to prevent bribery after Serious Fraud Office investigation.
Ultra Electronics Holdings Ltd, a British electronic systems manufacturer for the international defence and aerospace market, has been fined £10m after it acknowledged accountability for failure to prevent bribery. Under the deferred prosecution agreement (DPA), the company must pay the penalty in addition to £4.8m in SFO investigation costs. Monies must be paid by the end of May.
Photo by Sasun Bughdaryan / Unsplash
What’s more, the DPA requires the company to meet strict conditions, demonstrating genuine and sustained compliance with anti-bribery law, by providing annual reports to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).
The SFO opened its investigation into the company in 2018, following reports of suspected corruption offences under the Bribery Act 2010, relating to conduct in Algeria. In 2024, that investigation was extended to all jurisdictions in which the company operated.
Under the Bribery Act, a company can be held criminally liable if someone acting on its behalf pays a bribe to win or retain business. The DPA relates to failure to prevent bribery in connection with three public-sector contracts sought through the use of agents, including a contract worth as much as £200m awarded by the Omani Ministry of Transport and Communications.
Two further contracts were sought in Algeria, one for information technology and e-commerce solutions at Houari Boumediene Airport in Algiers, and a second for encryption technology for the Algerian Ministry of Post and Telecommunications. Although these contracts were not secured by the company, they had been expected to generate a profit of £1.4m.
A DPA is a voluntary agreement between a prosecutor and an organisation where prosecution is deferred because the organisation meets certain conditions, including financial penalties and cooperation with investigators. DPAs must be approved by a judge. The DPA between the SFO and Ulta Electronics Holdings was agreed following changes to the company’s ownership, structure and leadership.
Graham McNulty QPM, Director of the SFO, says: ‘Public services and critical national infrastructure depend on business being carried out honestly and lawfully. Bribery undermines that trust and corrodes the systems on which society relies. Today’s outcome underlines the Serious Fraud Office’s determination to investigate and hold companies to account where those standards are breached.’
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