May 23 - The UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has confirmed that Colin Bagwell has been added to the list of individuals charged with counts of conspiracy to pay bribes to secure contracts relating to the Jasmine gas field in the North Sea, bringing the nu

At the beginning of this month, the SFO originally charged F.H. Bertling Ltd and several individuals with one count of conspiracy to give or accept corrupt payments for assisting F.H. Bertling Ltd in being awarded or retaining contracts for the supply of freight forwarding services relating to the Jasmine project, contrary to section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 and section 1 of the Criminal Law Act 1977.

One was additionally charged with a separate count of conspiracy to give or accept corrupt payments, contrary to the same acts.

The SFO has confirmed that on May 17, Bagwell, a former executive of F.H. Bertling Ltd, was added to the individuals that have been charged and at a preliminary court hearing in London last Friday, he was released on GBP400,000 (USD518,720) bail.

In response to the previous allegations, F.H. Bertling International GmbH said the individuals named in the charge either never were or are no longer employed by any Bertling entity worldwide, adding that F.H. Bertling Ltd (UK) was sold and deconsolidated as of January 1, 2017 and is no longer part of the Bertling Group.

F.H. Bertling International GmbH (Bertling), which was a shareholder at the time of the allegations, also vigorous denied any previous wrongdoing in relation to these charges.

HLPFI understands that the SFO is not investigating any current activities of Bertling Logistics Group member companies.


 

www.sfo.gov.uk

www.bertling.com