Serious Fraud Office drops Rolls-Royce investigation

The Serious Fraud Office has dropped its investigation into Derby-based Rolls-Royce, saying it “isn’t in the public interest”.

The investigation into Rolls-Royce resulted in a Deferred Prosecution Agreement with the company and one of its subsidiaries in respect of bribery and corruption to win business in Indonesia, Thailand, India, Russia, Nigeria, China and Malaysia. Following further investigation, a detailed review of the available evidence and an assessment of the public interest, there will be no prosecution of individuals associated with the company.

Lisa Osofsky, director of the Serious Fraud Office said: ““In the Rolls-Royce case, the SFO investigation led to the company taking responsibility for corrupt conduct spanning three decades, seven jurisdictions and three businesses, for which it paid a fine of £497.25m.

“I am thankful for the work of colleagues and the assistance of domestic and international partners.”

In January 2017, Derby-based manufacturing giant Rolls-Royce said it would pay out £671m in penalties after coming to an agreement with the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO), the US Department of Justice (DoJ) and a Leniency Agreement with Brazil’s Ministério Público Federal (MPF).

Rolls-Royce agreed to make payments to the DoJ totalling $169,917,710 and to the MPF totalling $25,579,179. Under the terms of the Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with the SFO, Rolls-Royce will pay £497,252,645 plus interest under a schedule lasting up to five years, plus a payment in respect of the SFO’s costs.

The payments meant that the firm will avoid being prosecuted in the UK, US and Brazil over the claims.

A statement from Rolls-Royce said: “Rolls-Royce notes the announcement from the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and will not be commenting on their decision. We reached a Deferred Prosecution Agreement with the SFO and agreements with other investigating authorities in January 2017 and have since been co-operating fully with the authorities.”

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