(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - A member of Bahrain’s royal family has been named as a co-conspirator in a UK fraud probe into deals made by a London-based businessman man between Alcoa, the US aluminium group, and state-backed Bahrain Aluminium (Alba), it was reported Sunday.
Sheikh Isa bin Ali al-Khalifa, cousin and adviser to the Kingdom’s prime minister, has been accused by the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) of accepting $6m in bribes from Victor Dahdaleh, the Financial Times reported.
The charge sheet, obtained by the newspaper, claims Dahdaleh paid $5,999,944 to Sheikh Isa - then chairman of Alba and oil minister. The three alleged payments were made between March 2003 and June 2004, the newspaper quoted the charge sheet as saying.
The SFO confirmed to the newspaper that Sheikh Isa had been named in Dahdaleh charge sheet.
The charge sheet also said Dahdaleh allegedly made two corrupt payments in 2004 to Alba’s former chief executive, Bruce Hall, totalling about $384,000. A third alleged payment of £852,000 was also made to Hall, the paper reported.
Alba said last week that it had suffered "substantial losses" from the series of transactions at the centre of the UK fraud investigation.
The aluminium smelter said it had recovered more than $30m to date but had still lost "very large amounts of money" through the contracts linked to Canadian billionaire Dahdaleh.
On Oct 24, the SFO said Dahdaleh had been charged with corruption offences and released on police bail to appear at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court on Oct 31.
“Today marks a critical turning point in the investigation that began nearly five years ago. The conduct of Victor Dahdaleh, Alcoa and others resulted in substantial losses to Alba and its shareholders,” Mahmood Al-Kooheji, Alba's chairman, said in an emailed statement.
He said the investigation revolved around an alleged bribery scheme involving the sale price for finished aluminum sold by Alba.
“Our aim, from the start, has been to recover the very large amounts of money that were unlawfully taken from Alba and from Bahrain by these corrupt activities.”
Dahdaleh, a British and Canadian national residing in Belgravia, London is alleged to have made payments of bribes to officials of Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), a smelting company in Bahrain with majority state ownership.
He denies the charges and his lawyers said he would vigorously contest them, adding that the investigation into his activities were "flawed".
Dahdaleh’s website identifies him as the owner and chairman of Dadco, an investment, manufacturing and trading group with global operations.
Alba said it has filed a civil suit seeking damages against Dahdaleh, Alcoa, and a group of other related individual and corporate defendants in the US District Court in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The company also revealed it filed a suit in December 2009 against the Japanese trading company Sojitz Corp in the US District Court in Houston, Texas, in connection with bribery allegations linked to the sale price for finished aluminium sold by Alba.
Alba is ranked as one of the largest aluminium smelters in the world, and produces more than 860,000 metric tonnes per annum of aluminium.
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Sheikh Isa bin Ali al-Khalifa, cousin and adviser to the Kingdom’s prime minister, has been accused by the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) of accepting $6m in bribes from Victor Dahdaleh, the Financial Times reported.
The charge sheet, obtained by the newspaper, claims Dahdaleh paid $5,999,944 to Sheikh Isa - then chairman of Alba and oil minister. The three alleged payments were made between March 2003 and June 2004, the newspaper quoted the charge sheet as saying.
The SFO confirmed to the newspaper that Sheikh Isa had been named in Dahdaleh charge sheet.
The charge sheet also said Dahdaleh allegedly made two corrupt payments in 2004 to Alba’s former chief executive, Bruce Hall, totalling about $384,000. A third alleged payment of £852,000 was also made to Hall, the paper reported.
Alba said last week that it had suffered "substantial losses" from the series of transactions at the centre of the UK fraud investigation.
The aluminium smelter said it had recovered more than $30m to date but had still lost "very large amounts of money" through the contracts linked to Canadian billionaire Dahdaleh.
On Oct 24, the SFO said Dahdaleh had been charged with corruption offences and released on police bail to appear at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court on Oct 31.
“Today marks a critical turning point in the investigation that began nearly five years ago. The conduct of Victor Dahdaleh, Alcoa and others resulted in substantial losses to Alba and its shareholders,” Mahmood Al-Kooheji, Alba's chairman, said in an emailed statement.
He said the investigation revolved around an alleged bribery scheme involving the sale price for finished aluminum sold by Alba.
“Our aim, from the start, has been to recover the very large amounts of money that were unlawfully taken from Alba and from Bahrain by these corrupt activities.”
Dahdaleh, a British and Canadian national residing in Belgravia, London is alleged to have made payments of bribes to officials of Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), a smelting company in Bahrain with majority state ownership.
He denies the charges and his lawyers said he would vigorously contest them, adding that the investigation into his activities were "flawed".
Dahdaleh’s website identifies him as the owner and chairman of Dadco, an investment, manufacturing and trading group with global operations.
Alba said it has filed a civil suit seeking damages against Dahdaleh, Alcoa, and a group of other related individual and corporate defendants in the US District Court in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The company also revealed it filed a suit in December 2009 against the Japanese trading company Sojitz Corp in the US District Court in Houston, Texas, in connection with bribery allegations linked to the sale price for finished aluminium sold by Alba.
Alba is ranked as one of the largest aluminium smelters in the world, and produces more than 860,000 metric tonnes per annum of aluminium.
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