The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) on June 15th, 2017, announced the conclusion of a settlement agreement with Sinohydro Corporation.
An investigation conducted by the AfDB’s Office of Integrity and Anti-Corruption established that Sinohydro Corporation engaged in a fraudulent practice in bidding for works contracts in the context of the AfDB-financed Road Sector Support Project in Uganda.
As part of the settlement, the AfDB imposes a conditional non-debarment for a period of three years, subject to the company enhancing its global corporate compliance program within that period to the institution’s full satisfaction. The AfDB will verify the adequacy of Sinohydro Corporation’s compliance framework and the robustness of its implementation prior to any release decision.
In addition, Sinohydro Corporation committed to cooperate with the Office of Integrity and Anti-Corruption in its investigations of unrelated cases of misconduct in AfDB-financed projects. The period of conditional non-debarment may be reduced to 24 months if Sinohydro Corporation complies with all conditions of the agreement early.
“The purpose of the Bank’s sanctions regime is in equal measures the deterrence of sanctionable practices such as fraud and corruption and the rehabilitation of entities found to have engaged in such”, says Anna Bossman, Director of the Office of Integrity and Anti-Corruption. “Engaging with companies and ensuring the implementation of robust corporate compliance safeguards is key to avoid recidivism”.
In 2013, Sinohydro Corporation participated in a tender for works contracts under the Bank-financed Road Sector Support Project in Uganda. The investigation by the Office of Integrity and Anti-Corruption found that Sinohydro Corporation misrepresented its prior project experience by using not yet successfully and substantially completed contracts as references.
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(Via: Ghana/Accra News)
