A U.K. subsidiary of European defense and aerospace company Airbus that has been at the center of a seven-year bribery investigation disclosed in an annual report that it will be ceasing business operations, meaning it could potentially avoid criminal charges in connection with the matter.
GPT Special Project Management has been under investigation by the U.K. Serious Fraud Office since 2012 concerning a service contract in Saudi Arabia that pre-dated GPT’s acquisition by Airbus in 2007. The investigation concerns allegations made by a whistleblower that GPT paid at least £14 million (U.S. $17.8 million) to secure a £2 billion (U.S. $2.5 billion) military contract with the Saudi Arabian government.
