A former Airbus subsidiary will face trial on corruption charges in Britain in September over Saudi Arabian contracts dating back a decade, the company and the UK’s Serious Fraud Office said Thursday. Apart from the company, its ex-managing director Jeffrey Cook and former financial officer John Mason have also been charged with corruption. Airbus, a pan-European planemaker based in France, said the SFO had called the accused to appear in court. GPT was a local subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space company, which later changed its name to Airbus Group. Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper reported in 2011 that the SFO suspected EADS of bribing Saudi officials to help it obtain a £2 billion contract ($2.6 billion at current exchange rates).

Source: Punch July 30, 2020 17:03 UTC