§ Mr. Simon ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many allegations of overseas bribery his Department has received since(a) November 1997 and (b) February 2002; [151399]
(2) how many allegations of overseas bribery his Department has forwarded to the law enforcement agencies since (a) November 1997 and (b) February 2002; and if he will name the agencies to which allegations were forwarded, and give the dates concerned. [151398]
§ Mr. IngramSince 1997 the Ministry of Defence has received 11 allegations of bribery occurring overseas of which six were received after February 2002. One case was passed to the Metropolitan police in October 1999 and another to the Brunei authorities in May 2002. 813W Another four were investigated by the Department's Defence Fraud Analysis Unit, in some cases in conjunction with the Ministry of Defence Police authorities, at various dates between March 2000 and November 2002. Three were passed to the Royal Military Police in the period April 1999 to April 2003. One other case arising in July 2002 is being handled by the MOD Police on behalf of another government agency. An allegation passed to the Department by the Serious Fraud Office in March 2001 was the subject of an internal Departmental review.