Serious Fraud Office News release

29 January 2010

Count Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly has today been charged in connection with defence contracts between BAe Systems plc and certain countries in Eastern/Central Europe.

The charge is conspiracy to corrupt, contrary to section 1 of the Criminal Law Act 1977. Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly, between 1 January 2002 and 31 December 2008, conspired with others to give or agree to give corrupt payments (contrary to section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906) to unknown officials and other agents of certain Eastern and Central European governments, including the Czech Republic, Hungary and Austria as inducements to secure, or as rewards for having secured, contracts from those governments for the supply of goods to them, namely SAAB/Gripen fighter jets, by BAe Systems plc.

He is to appear before Highbury Corner Magistrates Court today at 3.00 p.m.

Notes:

a) Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly (d.o.b. 7/9/53) is a resident of Luising, Austria and is an Austrian national.

b) Today�s action resulted from a joint investigation with UK�s Ministry of Defence Police and additionally with the collaboration of the Austrian authorities, i.e. Vienna Prosecution Office ("Staatsanwaltschaft Wien") and the police ("Bundeskriminalamt"). It was coordinated at European level through the assistance of Eurojust. Assistance was also provided by the Czech, the Hungarian and the Swiss authorities.

Serious Fraud Office, Elm House, 10-16 Elm Street, London, WC1X 0BJ
Press Office tel: 020 7239 7001/7000/7045/7004 or mobiles: 07966 655 8903 or 0781 807 6688
Main switchboard tel: 020 7239 7272 E-mail press.office@sfo.gsi.gov.uk - or via www.sfo.gov.uk

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So the SFO is prepared to go after one Austrian individual.

What about BAE Systems the serial corrupter of men, women, mice, juristic persons, entire governments and most of the second and third worlds.

I have it on good authority that the SFO is far more reluctant to prefer charges in the South African Hawk and Gripen cases due to inordinate pressure from Her Majesty's government.

The reason : because the indicated individuals on both the South African and British sides go right to the very top of this pile of chacma dung.