Saab, US Company Accused of Bribery in South Korea
The Korea Times in Seoul reported on October 6 that an investigation into bribery cases involving foreign defence firms is widening as more evidence of illegal lobbying activities emerges. The move comes as the country’s authorities conduct a probe into the Swedish defence and aerospace firm, Saab, whose Seoul office has been raided on suspicion of paying for military secrets that might help it win lucrative contracts. Publicity like this hardly enhances a company’s reputation, particularly if the firm concerned and its employees happen to be innocent. But if you’re running a company and suspect that something devious might be afoot, then call in a team of professional investigators, especially in computer forensics, without delay. An experienced group will be able to match up such things as budgets, expenditures and communication patterns and forewarn you of danger areas inside your operations.
The Saab case comes at a time when South Korea plans to create a new strike force of up to 100 fighter aircraft by 2020, so competition with other manufacturers like Boeing and Lockheed Martin is intense. While the new aircraft, known as the KF-X, will be produced by South Korea and is being touted as “home-grown”, it will require foreign involvement in its development and production.
Pivotal to this case is a private South Korean defence think tank, the Security Management Institute, which plays an advisory role to the country’s National Assembly. Seoul authorities claim that they became aware earlier this year that classified information on the KF-X program had been leaked to the Swedish firm, after which they raided both Saab’s office and that of the Institute. Documents and computer files were seized in a bid to uncover the alleged connection. Bank accounts of Saab employees and officials at the Institute were also traced. Saab has acknowledged that it did make a payment to the Institute to sponsor a seminar last March, but that this simply related to a Swedish trade fair attended by its chief executive.
South Korean authorities, however, claim that the amounts of money allegedly involved far exceeded the one-off payment that Saab has admitted to. They say that it was security operatives within the defence system who first picked up details of the amounts changing hands. Six people are supposedly implicated in the leaking of the secret information and four witnesses are apparently available to testify. The authorities have not yet released the name of the US company involved. Saab has been accused of offering large sums to the president of the Institute, who is a former head of the state-funded Korea Institute for Defence Analyses.
A South Korean defence expert has commented that the probe into Saab appears to be only the start of a much wider investigation into illegal lobbying activities by foreign firms and their agencies. If you want to ensure that your company doesn’t find itself caught up in a complex and damaging scenario like this, call in the computer forensics professionals sooner rather than later and put your mind at rest. It will be money well spent.
