“Fixing the Country” group to petition Special Prosecutor over investigating Mahama in Airbus scandal
The Airbus Scandal has been touted as one of the few instances in the world were a multibillion fine was awarded against a corporate body.
The advocacy group, “Fixing the Country Movement” has said that it will petition the Office of the Special Prosecutor to investigate the Airbus bribery scandal and compel it to appropriately deal with all individuals that were complicit in the scandal, including former President John Dramani Mahama.
The group insisted at a press conference held on Sunday, September 5, 2021 that the former President was a key player in the Airbus scandal and can therefore not be exonerated from the sanctions.
The founder of the movement, Mr. Ernest Owusu Bempah also revealed that it is the group’s intent to petition all the embassies in the country on this matter, with particular focus on the UK High Commission as well as the US Embassy.
The Airbus Scandal has been touted as one of the few instances in the world were a multibillion fine was awarded against a corporate body.
Following joint investigations of Airbus by the US Department of Justice, the Serious Fraud Office of the UK and the Parquet National Financier of France, it emerged that the company had engaged in various corrupt practices within Ghana, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Taiwan within the same period.
The company was also found to be guilty of failing to ensure that its employees and assigns desisted from bribing officials during the purchases of its aircraft and other products, leading to an award of a $3.9billion fine against the company by the US, UK and France in a deferred prosecution agreement.
In the case of Ghana, it emerged from court documents thtat were published by the United States DOJ and the SFO of the UK that Airbus had bribed Ghanaian officials into being awarded lucrative contracts, including allegedly paying more than €3 million through a third party.
It emerged that a high ranking elected official, referred to as Individual 1, who reportedly stayed in office between 2009 and 2016 had direct contact with the management of Airbus over the purchase of the aircraft shortly after assuming office.
“Individual 1 was influential in having the government of Ghana approve aircraft purchases and Individual 1 contacted Airbus senior executives during the government approval process. In 2011, during Individual 1’s time in office, the Ghanaian Parliament approved the purchase of C-295 aircraft,” the report indicated.
Airbus was also said to have contracted the brother of Individual 1, identified only as Consultant 4, over acting as the third-party agent of the company during the sale of the aircraft.
The DOJ found that “Airbus purposefully sought to engage Consultant 4 due to his closeness to Individual 1, and the Airbus management included Consultant 4 in its communications with Individual 1. Airbus used Consultant 4 as a conduit for messages intended for Individual 1. Consultant 4 traded on his access to Individual 1.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Bempah has insisted that many former Presidents around the world who were cited in the scandal had been jailed, including former South Africa’s Jacob Zuma.
The group noted that it had reasonable cause to believe that the person code-named “Individual 1” in the Airbus report was President Mahama.