After raids last week on homes and offices, Australia’s federal police have charged two directors of a prominent Sydney-based construction company with foreign bribery offenses.
The two directors of Lifese Engineering are brothers Mamdouh and Ibrahim Elomar.
Police said they tried to bribe Iraqi government officials in exchange for multi-million-dollar contracts.
The case has generated sensational headlines in Australia because of the defendants’ family connections with well-known terrorists.
“Mamdouh’s son, Mohammed, is one of Australia’s most wanted terrorists, infamous for posing with the severed heads of victims believed to have been killed by Islamic radicals in Syria,” ABC said Wednesday.
Mamdouh’s other brother, Mohammed Ali Elomar, is in jail for one of Australia’s biggest terror plots, the report said.
Mamdouh and Ibrahim Elomar now face up to ten years in prison if found guilty of overseas bribery. They’re scheduled to appear in court next month.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin said the AFP now has 14 active investigations with some connection to foreign bribery.
Lifese Engineering was founded in 1986. It specializes in big industrial and infrastructure projects. On its website, the company lists completed projects that include a port in Australia, a power grid in Papua New Guinea, jetty construction in Abu Dhabi, and the Sydney airport elevated roadway.
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Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog. He can be contacted here.
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