This is a case study involving an allegation of conspiracy to bribe a foreign official.
The client had been working for Note Printing Australia and Securency, which were offshoots of the Reserve Bank of Australia that is responsible for designing and making plastic banknotes.
What is alleged to have occurred?
Allegations arose that the client was part of a conspiracy to bribe Malaysian officials via so-called “success-based commissions”.
At the time of the allegations arising, our client was living in France and could not be extradited on the allegations of bribery of foreign officials. They went to Germany for social reasons and unfortunately could be arrested there.
The client was then held for a long time before being extradited to Melbourne. When they arrived and were in custody, the Australian Federal Police indicated that if the client were to plead guilty to bribing foreign officials, they would be advocating for an immediate gaol in the vicinity of around 4 years in prison.
Neither we, nor our client, were keen on the approach being suggested and we subsequently applied for bail. The main aim of getting the client released into the community was so they wouldn’t have to stay in custody for years as the matter went through the trial process.
What happened at court?
In the end, after around 5 years, the matter resolved with a negotiated plea to conspiring to offer a bribe to foreign officials in Malaysia.
This was to try to get those countries to use the polymer notes produced by Note Printing Australia.
What was the result?
The Judge agreed that the client was neither a high-level staff member nor the architect of the scheme and imposed a suspended prison sentence for conspiracy to bribe a foreign official.
DISCLAIMER: This is a real case study of an actual case from our files dated December 2018. Details pertaining to the client have been changed to protect their privacy. The sentence imposed and the charge have not been altered. These case studies are published to demonstrate real outcomes and give an indication of possible tariffs in Court. We do not guarantee a similar case on these charges will get the same result. Please note that we post results at our discretion, therefore while many case studies are average results, others are notable for their exceptional outcomes. PUBLISHED 14/10/2024
