BAE accused of secretly paying £1bn to Saudi prince

[cal04]

Source: David Leigh and Rob Evans

· Money for 'marketing services' on arms deal
· £30m payments a quarter
· Sanctioned by MoD

The arms company BAE secretly paid Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia more than £1bn in connection with Britain's biggest ever weapons contract, it is alleged today.

A series of payments from the British firm was allegedly channelled through a US bank in Washington to an account controlled by one of the most colourful members of the Saudi ruling clan, who spent 20 years as their ambassador in the US.

It is claimed that payments of £30m were paid to Prince Bandar every quarter for at least 10 years.

It is alleged by insider legal sources that the money was paid to Prince Bandar with the knowledge and authorisation of Ministry of Defence officials under the Blair government and its predecessors. For more than 20 years, ministers have claimed they knew nothing of secret commissions, which were outlawed by Britain in 2002.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/baefiles/story/0,,2097149,00.html

---

The fresh allegations may also cause BAE problems in America, where corrupt payments to foreign politicians have been outlawed since 1977.

[MetaTrope]

1. Bandar's got to pay for al-Qaeda's services somehow...

:shrug:

[Eugene]

2. BAE denies paying Saudi prince more than one billion pounds

Source: Agence France-Presse

BAE denies paying Saudi prince more than one billion pounds

13 minutes ago

LONDON (AFP) - Defence firm BAE Systems has strenuously
denied a report that it secretly paid a Saudi Arabian prince
more than one billion pounds in connection with Britain's
biggest weapons deal.

There was "no case to answer", the company said Thursday.

The Guardian had alleged that more than one billion pounds
was paid into accounts controlled by Prince Bandar bin Sultan
-- the former Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States
-- over at least a decade.

The Guardian said it understood that details of the payments
had been uncovered by Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) as
part of its probe into transactions behind the 43-billion-pound
Al-Yamamah deal signed in 1985.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070607/wl_uk_afp/britainsaudioecd

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. Note that Riggs Bank is involved in this

Those close to Deso say regular payments were drawn down by BAE and despatched to Prince Bandar's account at Riggs bank in Washington DC.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riggs_Bank#Scandals for a primer on its involvement with 9/11 money, Pinochet (who was bribed by BAE as well), Equatorial Guinea, and much money laundering. Search the DU archives for details.

[BikeWriter]

4. Guess which bank a * works at?

[MaineDem]

8. Exaxctly!

And remember, this is the Saudi prince known as Bandar Bush.

[laststeamtrain]

5. Saudi prince 'received arms cash' (Bandar)

Source: BBC

A Saudi prince who negotiated a £40bn arms deal between Britain and Saudi Arabia received secret payments for over a decade, a BBC probe has found.

The UK's biggest arms dealer, BAE Systems, paid hundreds of millions of pounds to the ex-Saudi ambassador to the US, Prince Bandar bin Sultan.

The payments were made with the full knowledge of the Ministry of Defence.

Prince Bandar would not comment on the investigation and BAE Systems said it acted lawfully at all times.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6728773.stm

[truthisfreedom]

6. Bandar Bush, first man on the cushions, relaxing, holding hands with bushco, and sitting

on billions of dollars that represent the tip of the iceberg in bushco corruption.

[Judi Lynn]

7. Clearly someone's confused. No friend of George Bush's would be involved in anything shady!

http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com.nyud.net:8090/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/040419/040419_bush_saudi_hmed2p.hmedium.jpg

President Bush with Saudi Arabian ambassador Prince Bandar bin Sultan at the Bush Ranch in Crawford, Texas, Aug. 27, 2002.

[LeftishBrit]

11. Oh how lovely!

They say dogs are good judges of character - but our Poodle seems to have an unerring knack for picking the bad characters to cosy up to.

And why would a Saudi prince need more cash anyway - you'd expect Saudi royals to be giving bribes, not taking them???

[sabra]

9. k & r

[Serial Mom]

10. BAE owns a huge amount of AMERICAN Defense companies

Sorta of like outsourcing your ports to foreign governements or companies, but I never hear people complain about BAE buying up our contractors!

Here's a small list:

BAE SYSTEMS - ASD
Fridley MN

BAE SYSTEMS - NES
Wayne, NJ
Greenlawn, NY

BAE SYSTEMS Controls
Irving, TX

BAE IEWS
Pomona, CA
Lexington, MA
Hudson, NH
Merrimack, NH
Nashua, NH
Yonkers, NY
Lansdale, PA
Ft. Worth, TX
Manassas, VA

BAE SYSTEMS Integrated Defense
Mojave, CA
Austin, TX

[Massachusetts]

12. OINK, OINK, OINK!!!

Figures he is a bu$hit friend.

[Eugene]

13. Lord Woolf to head BAE's review

Source: BBC News

Last Updated: Monday, 11 June 2007, 05:54 GMT 06:54 UK

Lord Woolf to head BAE's review

Lord Woolf, the former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales,
is to head an independent review of business practices at BAE
Systems.

BBC Business Editor Robert Peston has learned that Lord Woolf
is to chair an ethics committee to look into how the defence
giant conducts its arms deals.

BAE's move comes after revelations about multi-million pound
payments to help it win a Saudi Arabia deal.

It is expected to announce other high profile appointments
to the committee.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6739805.stm

---

Source: Associated Press

Report: BAE to Review Business Practices


Monday June 11, 2007 9:46 AM

LONDON (AP) - BAE Systems PLC, the aerospace company
accused of funneling money to a Saudi prince in a major arms
deal, will appoint a former lord chief justice to head a review
of business practices, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported
Monday.

BAE Systems declined to confirm or deny the report.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6699958,00.html