The UK Government dropped a bribery probe of BAE, but US prosecutors picked it up. In the meantime, BAE’s GC cleaned up the company’s act – but will it be enough to fend off an indictment? Sue Reisinger reports
On 12 May last year, when US Department of Justice officers at the Houston airport slapped a subpoena into the hands of Michael Turner, then chief-executive of BAE Systems, it was a smack heard round the world. They also grabbed and examined his computer and documents he was carrying. BAE, with major subsidiaries in the US, Australia and India, is Europe’s largest military defence contractor. And US prosecutors had stepped in where the UK prosecutors feared to tread.
