Unaoil takes Legal Action Against UK SFO

By John Lee.

Monaco-based Unaoil, which has been implicated in an international bribery scandal, has launched legal action against the United Kingdom's Serious Fraud Office (SFO), alleging that it has unlawfully misused its powers.

The SFO is currently conducting a criminal investigation into the activities of Unaoil, its officers, its employees and its agents in connection with suspected offences of bribery, corruption and money laundering.

The company claims that a raid organised by the SFO on its offices in Monaco was a "speedy and aggressive" fishing expedition.

The SFO is opposing Unaoil’s legal challenge, maintaining that it had significant grounds to suspect that Unaoil had "paid bribes ... to high-ranking Iraqi and other public officials on behalf of [its clients].

Judgment is to be given at a later date.

(Sources: The Guardian, WA Today, SFO)

Comments are closed.