Bribery Act claims it's first conviction

Paul Dancey on 29/11/2011

The Bribery Act has claimed its first conviction. But perhaps surprisingly, this was not about a corporate entity accused of failing to take the adequate procedures required by the Act, but about a magistrate’s court clerk.

Mr Patel admitted bribery and misconduct after taking a £500 bribe to avoid putting details of a traffic summons on the court database. He now faces a maximum of ten years in prison.

On a grander scale, in a current German bribery trial centring around the motorsports world, Gerhard Gribkowsky, the former Bayerische Landesbank manager, is accused of accepting bribes as part of CVC Capital Partners Ltd’s 2005 purchase of BayernLB’s 47% stake in Formula One.

Bernie Eccleston will be giving evidence and the case will no doubt be watched with interest by prosecutors in the UK. Any British national who is alleged to have committed bribery, regardless of where in the world, could be investigated and prosecuted by the SFO in the UK.

Source: Hugh James Solicitors Employment Law Bulletin

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