§ Captain BAGLEYasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty, whether an inquiry was held into the accounts of the Naval Air Department in relation to the payment of alleged improper commission of over £200,000 on a contract for Curtiss aeroplanes; with what results; how much of this commission was afterwards recovered at the Old Bailey; and who was the director of this Department at the time?
§ Mr. AMERYAn inquiry was held in 1917 into the circumstances in which commission was paid by the Curtiss Company to agents in this country on orders placed by the Admiralty. The inquiry showed that a sum of about £130,000 had been so paid—half of it to a United States' citizen named Seeley, and half to an English barrister named Casson, and that of the latter portion three-fourths was held by Casson in trust for the late Wing-Commander Porte. Casson and Porte were prosecuted, and the former was sentenced to pay a fine of £6,000; the248W case against Wing-Commander Porte was withdrawn for reasons fully stated in court. A sum of £43,353 18s. 3d. was recovered from Casson and Porte. Two officers served successively as directors of the Department during the period covered by the payment of this improper commission, but there has never been any suggestion that either could have been aware of the payment of the commission.