UK fine over Ghana bribery

**A British construction firm has been ordered to pay £5m after it pleaded guilty to involvement in overseas corruption and breaching UN sanctions.**Mabey & Johnson tried to influence officials in Jamaica and Ghana when bidding for public contracts.

It also paid more than $200,000 (£123,000) to Saddam Hussein’s Iraq regime, violating the terms of the UN oil for food programme.

The firm was fined, and ordered to pay a confiscation order and costs.

Reading-based bridge builders Mabey & Johnson secured contracts worth £60 million by bribing foreign politicians and other officials.

A judge at Southwark Crown Court fined the firm £3.5m. It was also ordered to pay a £1.1m confiscation order and £350,000 in prosecution costs.

In addition the company has made £1,413,611 available as reparations to Ghana, Jamaica and Iraq.

It had pleaded guilty to two charges of conspiracy to corrupt and one charge of breaching United Nations sanctions on Iraq.