A subsidiary of Aéroports de Paris (ADP) agreed on Monday to pay a fine of 14.6 million euros to stop prosecutions in a case of corruption of a foreign public official in Libya and the United Arab Emirates.
The Public Interest Judicial Agreement (Cjip), signed between the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) and Aéroports de Paris ingnierie (ADPI) on November 29, was validated by the president of the Paris judicial court following a hearing .
The procedure was launched after a complaint in July 2013 from ADPI concerning allegations of corruption and covers two aspects.
The first concerns calls for tenders in Libya for the construction of Tripoli, Benghazi and Sabha airport terminals, as well as some smaller contracts, between 2006 and 2008, detailed for the PNF Philippe Jaegl.
Thanks to local intermediaries, ADPI had access to privileged information which allowed it to adjust its offer and win the exchange of counterparties, particularly financial, he added.
The intervention of a Libyan minister made it possible to overcome the blockage of the Libyan government’s reluctance to entrust these three contracts with the same structure, continued Mr. Jaegl.
These contracts could not be completed due to the civil war in Libya starting in spring 2011.
The second part, revealed at the end of 2017, concerns the payment of commissions in 2011 to a senior UAE official and his company as part of a project to build a hotel complex in the United Arab Emirates.
In both aspects, ADPI collaborated with the justice system by transmitting documents, internal audits and reports.
We are satisfied to conclude these ancient facts that we ourselves revealed in order to correct them. These painful moments for the company are coming to an end, ADPI general director Jean Roche underlined at the audience.
This CJIP does not provide for the establishment of a compliance program in connection with the French Anti-Corruption Agency because ADP is already the subject, for other facts, of such a very rigorous program by the World Bank since January 2022, specified financial prosecutor Jean-Franois Bohnert.
Since the date of the facts investigated, the ADP group has implemented a very rigorous Ethics and Compliance program adapted to the highest requirements in this area, the group affirmed in a press release.
This CJIP is the 19th signed by the PNF and validated by the court, recalled Mr. Bohnert.
In the context of the CJIP, the penalty does not constitute recognition of guilt or conviction.