By John Donovan

The Times has published an article today, 11 November 2017, under the headline “Saudi purge may lift lid on £43bn BAE arms deal”

Extract: Britain’s biggest -ever arms deal faces renewed scrutiny after Saudi Arabia placed it at the centre of an urgent criminal investigation as part of the kingdom’s anti-corruption drive. One of the hundreds of princes, ministers and businessmen held in the country’s unprecedented purge of senior figures is Prince Turki bin Nasser, the royal at the centre of the so­ called al-Yamamah scandal, The Times has been told. read more

By John Donovan

In September 2009, we published an article headlined: BAE Systems whistleblower accuses Shell & BP of money laundering Al-Yamamah proceeds

Al-Yamamah was the Saudi/UK corruption scandal investigated by the UK Serious Fraud Office until the investigation was stopped in its tracks by the then PM, Tony Blair, a man not known for being incorruptible or honest. Blair gave in to threats from the repressive Saudi regime. In my lifetime, this was a low point in the UK’s international reputation, along with the Suez fiasco.
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Years of bribery investigations into BAE Systems by the Serious Fraud Office were brought to a close today, when the company was fined after pleading guilty to failing to keep proper accounting records in Tanzania. Here is a timeline of investigations of the defence company:

(ADDED BY JOHN DONOVAN: SHELL PLAYED A KEY MONEY LAUNDERING ROLE IN THE BAE CORRUPTION DEAL PRINTED IN RED TEXT)

1985: Britain signs the Al Yamamah arms-for-oil deal with deal with Saudi Arabia, the biggest export contract in UK history. The agreement was government to government, but BAE Systems (then British Aerospace) was the prime contractor because the deal included the sale of 120 Tornado fighter jets, Hawk trainer planes and other defence kit.

1989: The Observer first reports that an investigation is underway into claims huge payments were made to BAE agents as commission, by inflating the sale price of the Tornados in the Al Yamamah deal. read more

U.K. Judge Throws Curveball in BAE Agreement

By Dionne Searcey: DECEMBER 20, 2010

Bringing closure to foreign-corruption cases has generally become a formulaic process.

The company pays a bribe overseas, law enforcement finds out, the two sides reach some kind of a settlement deal, a judge approves it, and everyone goes their separate ways. Any deviation from this pattern tends to generate headlines.

But a judge in the U.K. on Monday threw a wrench into the Serious Fraud Office’s plans for winding down the long and tangled corruption investigation into British defense contractor BAE Systems. Click here for the FT story. read more

The Sunday Telegraph

November 15, 2009

Ministry cannot account for where £1bn went in Saudi oil-for-jets affair

DAVID HENCKE

DETAILS OF a damning secret report into Britain’s biggest ever arms deal, which raises questions over how the Ministry of Defence spent more than £lbillion, can be disclosed for the first time by The Sunday Telegraph.

A National Audit Office (NAO) investigation into the controversial £20 billion al-Yamamah arms deal between Britain and Saudi Arabia found that:

• The MoD could not properly account for nearly £1billion of cash it paid to British Aerospace (now Bae Systems) at the time of the deal;
• Bae also “failed to account” for the £1billion;
• A£30.3 million management fee was paid to Bae even though there was no “legal or contractual obligation” to do so – a payment described by auditors as “irregular”.

Documents also outline how auditors demanded that the Govemment investigate Bae accounts to find out what had happened to the money, and reveal the fears that led to the report being kept secret for 17 years. read more

ROYAL DUTCH SHELL INVOLVEMENT IN SAUDI ARABIA / AL YAMAMAH BAE ARMS SCANDAL

There is also an oil element. There was an oil barter arrangement whereby oil was marketed, initially by Shell and BP, and the proceeds were routed through the MOD to BAE Systems."

But the biggest case was always the Al Yamamah probe, which became even more explosive after it emerged that the SFO was investigating allegations that the company had paid more than £1bn to Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the former Saudi ambassador to Washington. Prince Bandar has also always denied wrongdoing. The scrapping of the Saudi case on national security grounds proved a pyrrhic victory for BAE, however, as it triggered a wave of criticism of the company and was followed by the launching of other investigations around the world.

This follows the closedown of the SFO's own inquiry in London into BAE's multimillion pound payments to members of the Saudi royal family. Tony Blair, as prime minister, forced the SFO to call off the inquiry on alleged grounds of "national security".

...partner States were particularly incensed by the decision to terminate the Serious Fraud Office's investigation of allegations of bribery involving BAE Systems and the UK-Saudi Al Yamamah arms deal.