Probe International

(September 18, 2002) Acres International, the Canadian engineering consulting company, on Wednesday warned that its conviction for bribery by the Lesotho High Court could jeopardise international construction companies’ operations in the developing world.

(September 18, 2002) Canada’s former consular representative in Lesotho was revealed this week to be at the centre of a bribery scandal that has seen a Canadian engineering firm convicted of bribery in order to win contracts on a massive hydroelectric dam project.

(September 18, 2002) The Lesotho verdict comes in a week when the newly formed African Union is meeting in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa to draw up a pan-African blueprint to fight corruption, which it says costs the continent an estimated $150 billion each year.

(September 18, 2002) "If western governments get tough with convicted bribers, multinational firms will get the message that corruption is costly, and that will spell the end of corruption on third world development projects," said Patricia Adams.

(September 18, 2002) "If Western governments get tough with convicted bribers, multinational firms will get the message that corruption is costly, and this will spell the end of corruption on Third World development projects." – Patricia Adams, Probe International.

(September 18, 2002) The Lesotho High Court today convicted Acres International, a Canadian engineering consulting firm, of paying bribes to win contracts on a multi-billion dollar dam project.

(September 18, 2002) Acres said it was "shocked" by the verdict and will immediately appeal.

(September 18, 2002) Probe International said that Tuesday’s conviction on corruption charges of Acres International, could change the way in which multinational companies undertake projects, such as building dams, in developing countries.

(September 18, 2002) "The Lesotho verdict . . . has sweeping implications, including the potential to eradicate the widespread corruption we see happening in large-scale development projects involving multinational firms in developing countries," said Patricia Adams.

(September 18, 2002) Acres International, a Toronto-based engineering firm, was convicted yesterday of two counts of bribing a foreign official in connection with contracts tied to a US$8-billion water project in Lesotho, a tiny landlocked country within South Africa.

(September 18, 2002) In a 300-page judgment, Judge Lehohla found that Acres had intended to bribe Mr. Sole and that its agreement with its agent was struck in order to cover the bribe. Acres said it was shocked by the ruling and plans to appeal.

(September 18, 2002) "What Lesotho has said is that it takes two to tango . . . [Now] businesses will look at Lesotho and say, ‘We don’t have to engage in criminal activities in order to get contracts. We prefer to do business in countries like that’," said Patricia Adams.