Melissa Leong
Toronto Star
October 12, 2002

Oakville-based engineering firm Acres International Ltd. may face a fine of up to $4 million after being convicted of bribery by a foreign government.

The judge in the Lesotho High Court is expected to deliver his decision on the penalty on Oct. 28, the company said yesterday.

The crown argued for a fine of 25 million maloti ($3.8 million Canadian), but the company suggested 2 million maloti or $305,000 (Canadian) was an appropriate fine.

Acres lawyer Milos Barutciski said, however, it will appeal the conviction.

The company was among 12 international companies accused of paying bribes in a giant water control project, but the first to go on trial.

The case has implications for how business is done in developing nations, said Pat Adams, executive director of Probe International, a Toronto-based organization that monitors Canada’s aid and trade.

Acres was accused of directing $320,000 (U.S.) to Masupha Ephraim Sole, a Canadian-trained engineer who oversaw the $6 billion Lesotho Highlands Water Project during the 1980s and `90s. The money was said to be channelled through Zalisiwonga Bam, a local engineer Acres hired.

The High Court ruled the “representative agreement” between Acres and Bam was a ploy to hide bribes.

Acres has denied any wrongdoing and was cleared in probes by the World Bank and the Canadian International Development Agency.