in johannesburg

The South African authorities have carried out a series of raids as part of an investigation into allegations the British defence and aerospace giant, BAe Systems, paid bribes to officials of the Pretoria government to secure a deal worth 30 billion rand (£1.95 billion) aircraft.

The alleged bribes, reported by four South African newspapers, were said to have been paid by BAe to the colourful arms dealer Fana Hlongwane, adviser to the late defence minister Joe Modise, and other unnamed government officials.

According to rADVERTISEMENT eports, Johan du Plooy, lead investigator at South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) – also known as the Scorpions – tabled an 89-page affidavit in the Pretoria High Court before the raids began last week on seven different premises throughout the country, including BAe's offices in Pretoria.

Also tabled at the High Court was an affidavit from lead investigator Gary Murphy, of Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO), which is conducting a parallel investigation in collaboration with the Scorpions.

The affidavit included a schedule of "commission" payments made by BAe to key South African figures involved in negotiating the purchase of 24 Hawk jet trainers and 28 Gripen fighter jets from BAe/Saab, said the Mail and Guardian, the country's top investigative newspaper.

Mr du Plooy's warrant said: "The investigation includes the reasonable suspicion that BAe devised a system of payments to its said advisers…in order to disguise the true nature of the payments, being designed as bribes in order to achieve success in the said programmes and to seek to obtain undue advantage over its competitors in the bidding process."

According to the Mail and Guardian, Mr du Plooy notes in his affidavit that "commission" payments were channelled through financial institutions around the world in such locations as Liechtenstein, China, Switzerland, Jersey and the UK.

SFO documents show the Scorpions are focusing in the early stages of the investigation on Mr Hlongwane, who was on a £1 million-a-year retainer from BAe and who in 2005 received a payment "of £8 million as settlement for work done on the arms deal", according to the Sunday Times of South Africa.

It described Mr Hlongwane as a billionaire with a "penchant for beautiful women, Cuban cigars and Dom Pérignon champagne".

The £5 billion arms deal has poisoned South African politics for the past decade, with widespread allegations of corruption in relation to deals with German, French and British companies.

The purchase of the Hawk and Gripen aircraft was opposed by South Africa's defence chiefs, who wanted to buy Italian Aermacchi planes at half the price. They were overruled by Mr Modise, who ordered cost was not to be taken into account.

An SFO spokesman said: "The SFO is conducting an investigation into BAe Systems plc and suspected corruption in relation to a defence contract with South Africa. The contract includes Saab Gripen fighters."

Lindsay Walls, head of media relations for BAe, told The Scotsman: "The South African authorities last week visited the premises of BAe Systems in Centurion (Pretoria], as part of their ongoing co-operation with the SFO.

"We continue to support the SFO in its inquiries, with access to people, information and premises whenever requested, and wholeheartedly support a rigorous approach, in the hope it brings to a conclusion inquiries now in their fifth year."

The Swedish firm Saab has previously issued a statement saying only BAe was under investigation. "We believe we (Saab] have done nothing wrong. We have nothing to hide," it added.

BACKGROUND

There was an outcry in 2006 after the Attorney General shut down a corruption inquiry by the Serious Fraud Office into a £40 billion arms deal between BAe and Saudi Arabia.

Reports suggested that more than £1 billion was secretly channelled to a Saudi prince over more than a decade, during which time BAe sold more than 100 jets to the Saudis.

Tony Blair, the then prime minister, said an inquiry would lead to the "complete wreckage" of vital UK national interests, as Britain would lose an ally in the war on terrorism as well as thousands of jobs.