Two men acquitted of bribing Saudi Arabia over huge UK defense deal

Two men have been acquitted of paying bribes totaling millions of pounds to senior Saudi officials as they argued they were unfairly prosecuted.

Geoffrey Cook and John Mason are accused of bribing a Saudi prince and his associates to secure and maintain a huge defense deal for a British company. But on Wednesday, a jury acquitted them after lawyers argued the payments had been authorized by the British and Saudi governments.

KC Tom Allen, representing Cook, told jurors that many British politicians, officials and military figures had long known about and approved the payments to Saudi Arabia.

He said his clients had been “left out to dry” because the MoD had actually authorized the exact type of payment for which the two men were charged.

The acquittals are a setback for the Serious Fraud Office, which prosecuted the pair after nearly a decade of investigation.

SFO claimed in court Cook and Mason were “at the heart of the operation” and paid £9.7m to a group of Saudi leaders between 2007 and 2010. The amount was allegedly paid to Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, son of the late King Abdullah. and his colleagues ensured that British company GPT Special Project Management continued to receive lucrative contracts from Saudi military units.

Miteb was once considered a contender Heir to the throne, appointed by his father as leader of the Saudi Arabian National Guard (SAN).

The payments relate to a decades-long deal worth at least £1.6bn, Under the agreement, the British government installs and maintains communications equipment for the force.On the other hand, the British The government paid GPT to be the main contractor delivering the deal.

Cook, 67, is GPT’s managing director, while Mason, 81, owns part of a company that makes payments to the Saudis through offshore bank accounts.

In a successful defense, Cook and Mason admitted their involvement in the payments between 2007 and 2010.However, they argued they should be acquitted because the UK government had approved and facilitated the payments for yearss Signing military contracts to members of the Saudi royal family and other senior Saudi officials.

They say this is done to ensure British companies win Saudi contracts rather than those from rival countries such as France and the United States.

KC Allen, representing Cook, said the payments were “known and authorized” by the highest levels of the UK and Saudi governments, “by which I mean senior civil servants, diplomats, politicians, ministers, and secretaries of state in the Ministry of Defense and Whitehall.” “.

In July 2022, Judge Bryan suspended the first trial because the Ministry of Defense failed to hand over important evidence to the lawyers involved in the case.

Cook was found guilty Another offense was misconduct in a public office for receiving £45,000 in kickbacks and two cars (a Nissan Micra and a Honda Civic) between 2004 and 2008 for work related to GPT. This has nothing to do with the Saudi deal. At the time, he was working for the Ministry of Defense and had not yet joined GPT. He will be sentenced at a later date.

The SFO began an investigation after receiving a substantial amount of evidence from a whistleblower. GPT senior executive Ian Foxley claimed It was discovered that large amounts of money were being paid into offshore accounts without any valid reason.

The SFO’s prosecution process was drawn out and the legal wrangling protracted. Before going to court, the attorney general’s consent was required, and three years later, then-Attorney General Geoffrey Cox agreed to prosecute in 2019.