Amec fined £5M following ‘irregular payments’ on Incheon Bridge job
Amec this week agreed to pay almost £5M to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) after the contractor was discovered to have recieved “irregular payments” during the construction of South Korea’s massive Incheon Bridge.
The engineering and project management company agreed on Monday to comply with an SFO Civil Recovery Order to pay £4,943,648 settlement costs as well as costs incurred as a result of the civil recovery proceedings.
An Amec spokesman confirmed that the order to pay was associated with construction of the Incheon Bridge, which opened to the public last week.
“Amec is committed to the highest ethical standards. No improper overall commercial advantage accrued to Amec.”
Amec statement
The irregular payments − made between November 2005 and March 2007 and amounting to $9M (£5.5M) − were identified in an Amec internal investigation, which then declared its findings to the SFO.
The SFO determined that the payments amounted to unlawful conduct and failure to comply with section 221 of the 1985 Companies Act.
The SFO said that Amec had “acted promptly and responsibly in referring the case and has since cooperated with the SFO’s investigation into the corporate irregularities”.
Amec has since appointed an independent consultant to review its ethics and compliance programme.
“Amec is committed to the highest ethical standards. No improper overall commercial advantage accrued to Amec…and no adjustment is required to any Amec financial statements.”
Amec sold the division involved in the project in 2007.
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