Nov. 23, 2012 Press Release Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Services Scotland (Retrieved from http://www.crownoffice.gov.uk/news/releases/2012/11/abbot-group- Limited-pay-%C2%A356-million-after-corruption-report) ABBOT GROUP LIMITED TO PAY 5.6 MILLION AFTER CORRUPTION REPORT The Civil Recovery Unit is to recover 5.6 million under Proceeds of Crime legislation after a Scottish drilling company accepted that it had benefited from unlawful conduct. Abbot Group Limited ( Abbot ), which is based in Aberdeen, admitted that it had benefited from corrupt payments made in connection with a contract entered into by one of its overseas subsidiaries and an overseas oil and gas company. The contract was entered into in 2006 and the payments were made in 2007. The sum to be paid by Abbot represents the profit made by the company under the contract. Since then, the ownership and structure of Abbot has changed significantly. The corrupt payments were brought to light in May 2011 following enquiries by an overseas tax authoritity which resulted in an investigation by a firm of solicitors and a firm of accountants instructed by Abbot itself. Abbot reported the results of the investigation to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in July 2012 under the self-reporting initiative. In view of any criminal investigation of others that may follow, it is not possible to provide any further details of the corrupt payments. In accordance with the published guidance on self-reporting, the following criteria were considered in the decision to refer this case to the Civil Recovery Unit for an extra-judicial settlement:- the nature and seriousness of the offence and the extent of the harm caused; the extent of the wrongdoing within the business, including whether the conduct was authorised by, or connived in, by senior management, or restricted to a small number of lower-ranking individuals; whether it is clear that the business is taking action as soon as the matter comes to the attention of senior management (as opposed to taking no action until it becomes aware that there is a risk that the conduct is going to come to light);
whether the business (or the individuals involved in the matter reported) has any previous record for this type of conduct. This would go beyond a previous criminal conviction, and would include any regulatory enforcement action or warning; whether the individuals involved in the wrongdoing have left the business and, where decisions were taken at Board level, whether there is a new Board in place, and in both cases the timing and reasons for the departure of these individuals; whether the business has honoured its commitment to engage with the Crown meaningfully and in particular to disclose the full extent of the wrongdoing; whether the business had in place adequate anti-bribery systems at the time of the criminal conduct and whether it has further addressed this following the conduct; whether there are particular considerations which may weigh against prosecution, such as the consequences of prosecution for the company s employees and stakeholders. Abbot is the first company to enter into a civil settlement under the self-reporting initiative since it was introduced in 2011. Speaking of the case, the Solicitor General, Lesley Thomson QC said, Bribery and corruption cause worldwide damage to business and economic development. The self-reporting initiative creates a mechanism for businesses to recognise their corporate responsibility and take a rigorous approach to the investigation and elimination of such practices. While consideration must first be given to prosecution of appropriate cases, I am pleased that the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and the Civil Recovery Unit are committed to taking effective steps to ensure that businesses face up to their responsibilities and relinquish any unlawfully obtained profits. Ruaraidh Macniven, Head of the Civil Recovery Unit said, Abbot is the first company to have met the strict criteria of the self-reporting initiative since it was introduced in 2011. That initiative enables responsible businesses to draw a line under previous conduct and, providing the criteria are met, affords the possibility of a civil settlement. Self-reporting is an important way to ensure that corruption is exposed and that companies put in place effective systems to prevent it. The funds which have been recovered will be remitted to the Scottish Consolidated Fund. Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said:
This significant recovery made through the excellent work of the Civil Recovery Unit will be invested in the Scottish Government s hugely successful CashBack for Communities Programme which takes cash from the Proceeds of Crime and invests it in a range of sporting, cultural, community mentoring projects and sports facilities for the benefit of our young people and their communities. The 5.6m will be used to further expand the 46m CashBack Programme by funding projects that will contribute towards delivering youth employability, healthy lifestyles and reducing re-offending for the young people of Scotland. Ends Further information 1. The Bribery Act 2010 creates offences of bribing another person and of being bribed, and creates a separate offence of bribing a foreign public official. There is a new offence of commercial organisations failing to prevent bribery by persons associated with them. The Act also makes provision for prosecution in the United Kingdom of acts of bribery committed abroad by those with a close connection to the UK. 2. Each case reported to COPFS under the self-reporting initiative is considered on its own merits. The Serious Organised Crime Division considers what action requires to be taken in the public interest in these cases. There may be self-reported cases where it is in the public interest to refer the case to the Civil Recovery Unit with a view to a civil settlement being agreed. There will be other cases that are so serious that they will merit prosecution and confiscation proceedings. As with Bribery Act cases reported by the police, decisions about proceedings in self-reported cases will be made by Crown Counsel. 3. The self-reporting initiative was launched on 1 July 2011 when the Bribery Act 2010 came into force and was to last for an initial period of 12 months. The initiative was reviewed at the conclusion of this period and a decision was made that the initiative was to be extended for a further 12 months, until 30 June 2013. 4. The sum to be recovered in this case is to be paid in three stages by 31 March 2015 with interest on any outstanding sums being payable by Abbot at the judicial rate of 8% per year. 5. The Lord Advocate has given his approval to the publication of Guidance on the Approach of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service to the
Reporting of Bribery Offences by Businesses. - http://www.copfs.gov.uk/publications/2012/11/guidance-approach-crown- Office-and-Procurator-Service-Reporting-Businesses-Bribery-Offences. This Guidance sets out in detail how reports by a company should be made and how COPFS will approach these. The Guidance sets out the criteria that SOCD will apply when assessing self-reported cases. 6. This initiative is similar to a scheme operated in England, Wales and Northern Ireland by the Serious Fraud Office. There has been discussion between staff at Crown Office and the SFO as to the introduction of the initiative in Scotland and there will be continuing liaison between Crown Office and the SFO in relation to any cases where there are cross-border issues. 7. The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA) came into force early in 2003. One of the major innovations of POCA was the establishment of a non-conviction based civil recovery scheme. That scheme is set out in Part 5 of POCA. Under that scheme, the enforcement authority for Scotland is the Scottish Ministers. 8. The Civil Recovery Unit acts on behalf of the Scottish Ministers in the exercise of their functions under Part 5 of POCA. In practice, the CRU investigates and recovers the proceeds of crime without the need for criminal conviction. The CRU is a multi-disciplinary team comprising solicitors, financial investigators, support staff and forensic accountants. The civil recovery functions of the CRU are exercised independently of the prosecutorial functions of the rest of COPFS. 9. The Civil Recovery Unit works together with colleagues at the Crown Office Serious and Organised Crime Division, and other law enforcement agencies, such as the Scottish Crime anddrug Enforcement Agency, UK Police Forces, HM Revenue and Customs and Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) to identify and recover the proceeds of crime. 10. Since 2003, the use of the Proceeds of Crime Act in Scotland has allowed over 60m to be recovered from criminals. Since the inception of CashBack in 2007, over 46m or 90% of those monies recovered from that time have been ploughed back into a wide range of sporting, cultural, educational and mentoring activities and facilities for children and young people and their communities. Since the programme's inception in 2007, over 600,000 young people across Scotland have benefited from CashBack activities and projects..details can be found at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/topics/justice/public-safety/17141/cashback. 11. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is a committed member of the Scottish Government s Serious Organised Crime Task Force. The Task Force has a remit to pursue serious organised crime in all its forms by bringing together all agencies involved in tackling organised crime groups. Task Force members include the Cabinet Secretary for Justice, the Lord Advocate, representatives from COPFS, the Scottish Government, ACPOS, SCDEA, HMRC, SOCA and SPS. Details of the work of the Taskforce can be accessed here:http://www.scotland.gov.uk/topics/justice/crimes/organised-crime