Tag: laundering

Former Garuda Indonesia CEO Jailed for Eight Years for Bribery

May 8, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

AKARTA (Reuters) – An Indonesian court on Friday jailed Emirsyah Satar, a former chief executive of Garuda Indonesia, for bribery and money laundering related to procurement of planes and engines from Airbus and Rolls-Royce, his laywer said.

Satar’s lawyer Luhut Pangaribuan said his client had been given an eight-year sentence and fined S$2 million ($1.4 million) by the country’s corruption court.

Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) had indicted Satar, CEO of Garuda from 2005 to 2014, over payments from a businessman via a third party for the procurement by Garuda Indonesia of Roll-Royce Trent 700 engines and Airbus A320 and A330 planes.

The indictment also related to the procurement of Airbus planes for PT Citilink Indonesia, a unit of Garuda.

In 2017 Rolls-Royce agreed to pay authorities more than $800 million to settle charges after an investigation by the U.S. Justice Department and Britain’s Serious Fraud Office into alleged bribery of officials in six countries in schemes that lasted more than a decade.

Airbus in February this year agreed to pay a record $4 billion in fines after reaching a plea bargain with prosecutors in Britain, France and United States over alleged bribery and corruption stretching back at least 15 years.

Satar, who had previously denied wrongdoing, will decide next week whether to appeal against his sentence, said Pangaribuan.

($1 = 1.4139 Singapore dollars)

(Reporting by Agustinus Beo Da Costa; Writing by Ed Davies; Editing by David Goodman)

Ex-British Airways Executive Indicted Over Alleged JFK Airport Bribery Scheme

November 19, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

NEW YORK, Nov 19 (Reuters) – A former British Airways executive who oversaw the carrier’s operations at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport has been indicted for accepting bribes to help a ground handling company win contracts, New York’s attorney general said on Tuesday.

The charges announced by Attorney General Letitia James against Steven Clark, who she said directed British Airways operations at JFK Terminal 7, arose from “Operation Greased Runway,” a probe into contracting and procurement at JFK.

John Kinsella, a former chief executive of Ground Services International (GSI) accused of making improper payments to Clark, was also charged in the case.

Both defendants pleaded not guilty, according to their respective lawyers. British Airways, part of International Consolidated Airlines Group SA, was not charged.

James said Clark received more than $5 million and a secret 5% stake in GSI over several years from Kinsella, in exchange for promoting that company’s services.

According to court papers, payments were concealed from Britain’s flag carrier with fake invoices, and sometimes laundered through companies that Clark or Kinsella created.

James said Clark also received improper sums from another vendor, while Kinsella paid an executive who helped run JFK Terminal 1, which houses several airlines, to win his support.

Clark, 61, of New York, and Kinsella, 59, of Naples, Florida, were each charged with several counts, including bribery and money laundering, and arraigned before a New York state judge in Queens.

“Mr. Clark is innocent of the charges to which he pleaded not guilty, and expects to be vindicated,” Clark’s lawyer Kevin O’Brien said in a phone interview.

Kinsella’s lawyer Brian Legghio said his client was also innocent, looked forward to clearing his name, and had been awarded his JFK contacts on merit and based on his reputation. He said Kinsella sold GSI three years ago.

GSI agreed with James’ predecessor Barbara Underwood last December to a $12.3 million settlement related to the probe.

“Today’s indictment sends a clear massage to airline companies and airport vendors: pay-to-play schemes will not fly in New York,” James said in a statement.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York Editing by Tom Brown)

Ford’s UAW Members Vote to Ratify New Four-Year Contract

November 15, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

FILE PHOTO: Frankfurt hosts the international Motor Show (IAA)

DETROIT (Reuters) – The United Auto Workers union said on Friday that rank-and-file members at Ford Motor Co <F> have voted in favor of a new four-year labor contract with the No. 2 U.S. automaker.

The UAW will now focus on Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) <FCAU>, the sole remaining Detroit automaker without a new labor contract. Talks with FCA are expected to begin on Monday, a UAW spokesman said.

The union said 56.3% of Ford’s hourly workers voted to approve the deal, which allowed the company to avoid a strike like the one that cost its larger rival General Motors Co <GM> about $3 billion (£2.3 billion).

UAW leaders said earlier this month that Ford under the deal agreed to invest more than $6 billion in its U.S. plants, and to create or retain more than 8,500 UAW jobs.

The deal also includes pay raises and lump-sum payments over the life of the contract, a pathway to full-time employment for temporary employees and unchanged healthcare coverage.

Workers at GM approved a deal in late October that ended a contentious 40-day U.S. strike, the longest automotive labor stoppage since 1970.

Detailed terms of the Ford deal – released just a week after GM workers approved their new contract – echoed those agreed to with GM, as the union typically uses the first deal as a template for those that follow.

UAW leaders managed contract negotiations with Ford and GM, including the lengthy strike, while struggling with an ongoing federal corruption probe.

To date, 10 people have pleaded guilty in connection with the criminal investigation into illegal payoffs. Just last week former UAW vice president and former GM board member Joseph Ashton was charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and wire fraud.

Earlier this month the UAW said that its president, Gary Jones, who had been linked to the ongoing corruption probe, was taking a leave of absence.

Rory Gamble, the union’s acting head, said last week he will examine every department of the union in response to the spreading federal corruption probe to prevent future misuse of members’ dues.

(Reporting by Nick Carey and Ben Klayman in DetroitEditing by Matthew Lewis and Cynthia Osterman)

Former Garuda Indonesia CEO Jailed for Eight Years for Bribery

Ex-British Airways Executive Indicted Over Alleged JFK Airport Bribery Scheme

Ford’s UAW Members Vote to Ratify New Four-Year Contract

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