TORONTO – Canadian engineering multinational Acres International is expected to be sentenced today in Lesotho's High Court for bribing a public official to secure contracts on a multibillion dollar dam scheme. Acres was convicted on September 17 of two counts of bribery.
Earlier this year, the recipient of the bribes, Lesotho's Masupha Sole was also convicted. Mr. Sole was sentenced to a total of 57 years in jail for taking bribes from a dozen international engineering firms, which he is now serving concurrently over 18 years. Mr. Sole, the former head of the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority, received the longest single sentence – 12 years – for the bribe payments he received from Acres.
Though no Acres staff or officers will receive jail sentences, the company is expected to be fined.
Acres was charged with paying over US$260,000 to Mr. Sole through an agent to secure contracts in the US$8-billion dam building scheme. Acres' defense was that it had no knowledge that its agent, with whom it had a "representative agreement," was passing on money to Mr. Sole. Chief Justice Mahapele Lehohla rejected this argument and described the arrangement as a "sham" to cover up bribe payments. Acres will appeal the decision.
Meanwhile, the World Bank, which financed Acres' work on the Lesotho project is considering disqualifying the firm from future World Bank contracts. Under the Bank's anti-corruption guidelines, the Bank investigated Acres' record in Lesotho but concluded that there was insufficient evidence to "debar" the company. Bank spokesperson Caroline Anstey pointed out in a recent Canadian Broadcasting Corporation interview that the Bank's investigation is not a criminal investigation. "We do not have subpoena power," she said, explaining that the Bank could only review their own documentation and whatever an accused company gives them. "When we said we were not debarring Acres, we made it very clear that if new evidence came to light in the Lesotho prosecution, where they do have subpoena power, we would take another look."
The Bank has requested copies of Lesotho's court transcripts and the 300-page judgment in order to determine if there is "new evidence" to warrant Acres' debarment from World Bank contracts. Ms. Anstey said there is a "very large likelihood" the Bank will reopen the debarment investigation. -30-
For more information, contact:
Patricia Adams, Executive Director,
Probe International, Toronto, Canada
Tel.: 1 (416) 964-9223 (ext 227)
E-mail: patriciaadams@nextcity.com
For the latest on Acres' sentence and background information on the Lesotho corruption trials, including court transcripts, see our Lesotho section.
