AN ABERDEEN based company have been found guilty of bribery and corruption in Kazakhstan and fined £170,000.
International Tubular Services Limited (“ITS”), who support activities for petroleum and natural gas extraction, admitted that it had benefited from corrupt payments made by a former Kazakhstan-based employee to secure additional contractual work from a customer in Kazakhstan.
The bribery and corruption was discovered when the company was being sold for a reported £82 million last year.
ITS reported their discovery of the corrupt payments to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in November 2013 under the self-reporting initiative.
The funds, which will now be remitted to the Scottish Consolidated Fund, represent the total profit made under the corrupt contract in Kazakhstan.
Parker Drilling Company, who acquired ITS, have taken steps to implement comprehensive anti-bribery policies and training to ensure that no unlawful conduct will take place in the future.
Linda Hamilton, Head of the Civil Recovery Unit, said: “Bribery and corruption undermines legitimate businesses and can harm economic development, and we are committed to tackling it wherever it is found.
“In appropriate circumstances, the self-reporting initiative allows for companies to accept their involvement in corrupt practices, put in place effective systems to prevent it from recurring, and repay the illegitimate profits.
“In this case, we have recovered over £170,000 from ITS, which will be transferred to the Scottish Government to be reinvested back into Scottish communities.”
