Report of Investigation into Alleged Bribery of Ghanaian Officials by Airbus SE 8 August 2024 1.0 Introduction 1.1 The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) presents this report on an investigation into alleged bribery of high-ranking Ghanaian officials by Airbus SE, through intermediaries, in respect of the sale of military transport aircraft by Airbus SE to the Republic of Ghana between 2009 and 2015. The investigation was conducted upon a referral by the President of the Republic. 1.2 This report has been heavily redacted in the interest of national security — especially in respect of the correspondence and deliberations involving the Presidency, Cabinet, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Defence, the Ghana Armed Forces, Airbus SE, and a subsidiary of Airbus SE. 1.3 This report is founded on sections 2 and 3 of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959) and regulation 31(l)(g) of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (Operations) Regulations, 2018 (L.I. 2374). 2.0 Airbus SE 2.1 Airbus SE (Airbus) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. It designs and manufactures commercial aircraft, helicopters, defence, and space equipment and aircraft. It is one of the two largest manufacturers of commercial aircraft m the world (the other being The Boeing Company). It is registered m Teiden, Netherlands under the corporate law of the European Union, and its headquarters are located in the Occitame region of France, near the Toulouse-Blagnac Airport. 3.0 The Referral 3.1 By correspondence dated 2 February 2020 addressed to the Special Prosecutor, the Secretary to the President, Nana Bediatuo Asante, communicated that he had been directed by the President of the Republic to refer to the OSP, allegations of bribery made against Ghanaian officials in an approved judgment of the Crown Court at Southwark in the United Kingdom, delivered on 31 January 2020 by the Rt. Hon. Dame Victoria Sharp, the President of the Queen’s Bench Division, in the matter titled Director of the Serious Fraud Office v. Airbus SE (Case No: U20200108). 3.2 The 2 February 2020 referral recounted that according to the Statement of Facts in the case, between 2009 and 2015, a number of Airbus employees made or promised success-based commission payments of approximately five million Euros to a person described as Intermediary 5, who was said to be a close relative of a high-ranking elected Ghanaian official (described as Government Official 1). The referral narrated that significantly, the Statement of Facts stated that Government Official 1 was a key decision maker m respect of Government of Ghana aircraft orders; and that payments to Intermediary 5 by officials of Airbus SE were intended to induce or reward improper favour by Government Official 1 in respect of the purchase of three C-295 military transport aircraft. The referral also related that indeed, out of the five million Eurus promised to Intermediary 5, 3.8 million Euros was paid between March 2012 and February 2014. 3.3 Further, the referral indicated that similar conclusions had been reached by investigative and judicial authorities in the United States in the case of United States of America v. Airbus SE (Case No: l:20-cr-00021 (TFH)). 3.4 The referral requested that given the implications of the judgment, the OSP may collaborate with its United Kingdom and other foreign counterparts to conduct a prompt inquiry to determine the complicity or otherwise of any Ghanaian government official, past or present, involved in the scandal and to take the necessary legal action against such official, as required by Ghanaian law. 4.0 Investigation and Judicial Pronouncements by Relevant Foreign Authorities 4.1 On 31 January 2020, three courts, one each in the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and France simultaneously delivered similar decisions containing agreed outcomes (variously described as Consent Agreement, Deferred Prosecution Agreement, or Judicial Public Interest Agreement, depending on the jurisdiction) between Airbus SE and the relevant authorities in the three jurisdictions. The apparently coordinated judicial decisions imposed global financial sanctions in excess of 3.9 billion Euros on Airbus SE. 4.2 The agreed judicial decisions were the outcome of joint investigations carried out by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) of the United Kingdom and the French Parquet National Financier (PNF), and a parallel investigation conducted by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and the United States Department of State (DOS) — in respect of alleged bribery and corruption and violations of the United States International Traffic m Arms Regulations (ITAR) involving Airbus SE in Malaysia, Sri Tanka, Taiwan, Indonesia, China, Columbia, Nepal, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Russia, and Ghana. 4.3 The alleged bribery offences of Airbus in respect of Ghana was investigated by the SFO, while the DOJ investigated violations by Airbus of parts 126.1, 129, and 130 of ITAR m the context of the alleged bribery offences in relation to Ghana. Therefore, the judicial decisions by the courts in the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US) affected Ghana. Consequently, the investigations carried out by the SFO and DOJ and the decisions of the two courts bear on the investigation by the OSP and thus, require recourse and in some detail. United Kingdom 4.4 It is well-known that on 31 January 2020, the President of the Queen’s Bench Division, the Rt. Hon. Dame Victoria Sharp, sitting in the Crown Court at Southwark, delivered a final declaration and order in respect of a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) between the SFO and Airbus in the case of Director of the Serious Fraud Office v. Airbus SE. This was based on investigation conducted by the SFO in respect of Malaysia, Sri Tanka, Taiwan, and Ghana — which was held to demonstrate that in order to increase sales, persons who performed services for and on behalf of Airbus offered, promised or gave financial advantages to others intending to obtain or retain business, or an advantage in the conduct of business, for Airbus. And that, those financial advantages were intended to reward such improper performance. And further that, Airbus did not prevent, or have in place at the material times
