Canadian planemaker is currently being investigated by the UK Serious Fraud Office over suspected bribery and corruption involved in a deal made with Indonesian flag-carrier Garuda Indonesia nearly a decade ago.
According to the Financial Times, the probe is being made in relation to Bombardier’s sale of six regional CRJ1000 aircraft to Garuda in 2011.
It was one of the deals that ultimately led to the conviction of Garuda’s former chief executive Emirsyah Satar, who earlier this year was sentenced to eight years in prison for corruption and money laundering.
Satar was said to have received bribes from groups including Airbus, Rolls-Royce and Bombardier, through businessman Soetikno Soedarjo, who was sentenced to six years.
The SFO said on Thursday: “The SFO confirms it is investigating Bombardier Inc over suspected bribery and corruption in relation to contracts and/or orders from Garuda Indonesia.”
The SFO noted that, due to the matter being an ongoing investigation, it was unable to comment further.
Meanwhile, Bombardier said it had been informed about the SFO probe several weeks ago and agreed to cooperate with investigations.
The planemaker appointed external lawyers to run an internal review.
Bombardier is the latest aerospace company to face global scrutiny over bribery and the use of middlemen.
In 2017, Rolls-Royce agreed to pay more than $800 million to defer charges, after an investigation by the SFO and US Justice Department into alleged bribery of officials in six different countries.
Meanwhile, in February this year, Airbus agreed to pay a record $4 billion in fines after reaching a plea bargain with prosecutors in Britain, France and the US, over alleged bribery and corruption stretching back at least 15 years.
