The World Bank Group announced the debarment of Consia Consultants ApS for 14 years for fraud and corruption. Consia’s Managing Director was also debarred for three and a half years.
The World Bank’s Integrity Vice Presidency said in a statement that it found evidence that Denmark-based Consia “made payments to officials to influence the contract awards in and failed to disclose its agreement and commissions paid to its agent in connection with the World Bank-financed Strategic Road Infrastructure Project in Indonesia.”
Consia also misrepresented the availability of key staff it has claimed would be assisting with the execution of its technical assistance contract under the project, the World Bank said.
The World Bank’s Stephen Zimmermann said, “The outcome of this case is another example of how important it is to focus on finding evidence that helps the World Bank Group protect the interests of project beneficiaries while holding accountable those who seek to do otherwise for personal gain.”
Consia also “engaged in fraud and making corrupt payments to government officials in connection with several World Bank-financed projects in Vietnam,” the World Bank said.
The projects included the Hanoi Urban Transport Development Project, the Northern Delta Transport Development Project, the Haiphong Urban Transport Development Project and the Second Northern Mountains Poverty Reduction Project.
Consia claimed payments for staff who were never recruited or worked on its Vietnam technical assistance contract, the World Bank said.
Consia is a private Danish company. It was set up in 2000. According to its website it has had “over 200 technical assignments in over 55 countries in Asia, Europe, Latin America and Africa.”
It lists as clients the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Nordic Development Fund, the Danish International Development Agency, and the United Nations Office for Project Services.
The World Bank debarment against the company qualifies for cross-debarment by other Multilateral Development Banks under the Agreement of Mutual Recognition of Debarments (pdf) signed in 2010.
In addition to the World Bank, parties to the cross-debarment agreement are the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the African Development Bank.
A list of all World Bank debarred entities and individuals is here.
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Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog.
1 Comment
This is just the tip of the ice-bag.We have heard enough of such kind of stories.The loss owing to frauds in Government audited constructions has reached upwards of US $ 4 Trillion per year in 2008 according to Transparency International.The combined GDPS of Brazil,Russia,South Africa & Saudi Arabia.Nearly a decade on, the loss is continuing and increasing without any correction mechanism and Financial Accountants continue to audit constructions.. GOPAC suggested a Technical Audit in addition to Financial and a pool of such auditors with a union owing to the complexities of construction via their Position Paper in 2015. Yet no action is taken in this regard by high construction spending Institutions..The way forward is for some independent University (such as Jack Welch) to start a Masters Course on construction auditing for construction professionals,to produce such a pool.
Until that is done we'll hear these stories. Stories without proper correction mechanism is just waste of time and further frustrating to the ordinary man in the street.
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