A former manager of polymer film banknote maker has been sentenced by a United Kingdom court to 30 months in prison after being convicted of making corrupt payments to a Nigerian official.
Peter Chapman was sentenced to 30 months on four counts, although they are to be served concurrently and, because of the length of time he has already served, he will spend the rest of his sentence "on license," which is similar to probation.
Chapman previously was a manager for what was then Securency PTY Ltd., a maker of polymer substrate film for bank notes and joint venture of the Reserve Bank of Australia and Innovia Security, part of Wigton, England-based Innovia Films. Innovia is now the sole owner of the operation.
During a five-week trial at England's Crown Court Southwark, prosecutors laid out a case accusing Chapman of paying about $250,000 in bribes to an agent of the Nigerian Security Printing and Mining plc to secure orders for the purchase of reams of Securency's polymer substrate, according to a news release from the U.K.'s Serious Fraud Office, which took part in the investigation.
Commenting on the conviction, SFO Director David Green, said: “This has been a long, detailed investigation and a complex prosecution involving assistance from a wide range of jurisdictions. Crimes like this damage the U.K.'s commercial reputation and this conviction shows that such activity will not be tolerated.”
The 54-year-old Chapman was convicted following a joint investigation by the Serious Fraud Office and the Australian Federal Police (AFP).
