The U.K. Serious Fraud Office announced May 19 it closed its bribery investigation into power and automation technology provider ABB after concluding the case “did not meet the relevant test for prosecution.”
The SFO makes charging decisions on the basis of the test in the Code for Crown Prosecutors. “This specifies that the evidence must support a realistic prospect of conviction and that the prosecution must be in the public interest,” the SFO said. “In this instance, after an extensive and careful examination of the available evidence, the SFO found that the case did not pass the Code Test.”
The SFO first announced the launch of the ABB investigation in February 2017 into the activities of its U.K. subsidiaries, their officers, employees, and agents for suspected offenses of bribery and corruption. The SFO said the ABB probe related to its ongoing investigation into the activities of oil services provider Unaoil, which has faced disruption from the coronavirus pandemic.
Jaclyn Jaeger is a freelance contributor to Compliance Week after working for the company for 15 years. She writes on a wide variety of topics, including ethics and compliance, risk management, legal, enforcement, technology, and more.
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