AFP drops foreign bribery investigation into Australian miner

When the AFP announced in 2016 that it would investigate allegations of foreign bribery, local activists were overjoyed. They were confident that Australian police had the resources to investigate, lay charges and deliver justice.

But Clancy Moore, CEO of Transparency International Australia, is not surprised the investigation has reached an impasse. It was just the latest accusation, he said, put in the too-hard basket.

“It is a shame that the AFP has had to drop the investigation because too many allegations of foreign bribery by Australian companies over the past 20 years have gone uninvestigated, been put in the too-hard basket or simply fallen over in court,” Moore said .

He hopes Australia’s new bribery laws, which came into effect this month, will finally make it easier for police to investigate and prosecute cases. Under the new regime, companies and directors who fail to prevent a violation can be charged, even if it cannot be proven that they were aware of bribes.

The OECD has repeatedly warned of Australia’s failure to properly enforce and adequately punish the bribery of foreign officials. The AFP told federal parliament that foreign bribery investigations were often hampered by a range of factors, including complex corporate structures, and complicated by difficulties in obtaining evidence from the country where the alleged crime took place.

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In 2019, the AFP dropped an investigation into a $200,000 payment from Tabcorp to the Cambodian prime minister’s family after it was unable to obtain the evidence needed for a criminal prosecution.

The case against Leighton Holdings, which is accused of paying millions of dollars in bribes to win Iraqi government contracts in 2010 and 2011, remains unresolved.

The executive director of Congolese civil society organization Sassoufit Collective, Andrea Ngombet, said he was deeply concerned that the case had been dropped.

“The Australian Federal Police’s decision to drop the investigation does not undermine the safety of Australian citizens but reads loudly: ‘Fear not kleptocrats of the world, you are safe here. Australia is open to corruption,” Ngombet said.

“We urge the public to support our efforts to reopen the investigation. Justice, full accountability and transparency are non-negotiable.”

Samuel Nguiffo, a Cameroonian lawyer and manager of the Center for Environment and Development in Yaounde, said locals had placed a lot of trust in the AFP’s investigation to understand what happened during the awarding of the contract.

“We are still building the mining sector, so it is very important for us to know the truth,” Nguiffo said. “It will help improve future operations. When mining contracts are signed, they are signed for a period of 25 to 30 years, so it is better to have this recorded from the beginning so that generations do not suffer from bad decisions.”

Sundance, which was forced to delist from the Australian stock exchange in 2021 after failing to meet listing rules, is embroiled in a legal dispute with Cameroon and the Republic of Congo over the Mbalam-Nabeba iron project.

It is seeking $8.8 billion in damages over allegations that the Central African countries breached contracts when they revoked Sundance’s license and awarded it to Chinese investors.

The Perth-based miner reached an agreement with Congo in July, but the battle with Cameroon continues. Contacted for comment.

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