Two men were arrested in raids by Australian, British, and Spanish police over alleged corruption involving a banknote-printing firm part-owned by Australia's central bank, officials said on Thursday.
British and Australian police said they carried out 15 coordinated swoops Wednesday, while there were two more in Spain. Two men were arrested in Britain and are being questioned, Britain's Serious Fraud Office said.
"This action ... involves the activities of employees and agents of Securency International PTY Ltd and their alleged corrupt role in securing international polymer banknote contracts," a statement said.
Melbourne-based Securency is embroiled in a long-running investigation over claims its agents offered bribes to officials in countries including Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Nigeria to win contracts, according to media reports.
Australian police on Thursday confirmed raids in six areas in and around Melbourne and said they were part of a joint probe with British investigators.
Securency was not immediately available to comment while the Reserve Bank of Australia, the central bank, said it takes the allegations "very seriously" and "condemns corrupt behaviour of any kind."
Securency is a joint venture between the bank and Innovia Films, which helps design and produce polymer banknotes known for their durability and for being hard to counterfeit.
The company's website says its banknotes have been issued in more than 30 countries around the world, from China to Zambia and Mexico.
Its managing director and company secretary were suspended last November as Australian police probed alleged bribery and kickbacks which reports say amounted to several million dollars.
RBA could take all of Securency
The private equity group that sits behind the Reserve Bank's partner in the troubled Securency polymer banknote business is conducting an asset fire sale that may open the way for the central bank to take 100 per cent ownership of Securency, as a prelude to completely offloading it.
Co-ordinated raids by the Australian Federal Police and Britain's Serious Fraud Office on Wednesday in Australia and Britain were related to allegations that Securency paid millions of dollars in bribes through agents in countries where it marketed its polymer banknote technology.
The allegations were first raised by The Age in May, and are spurring the Reserve's search for ways to get Securency off its books.
Securency is a 50:50 joint venture between the Reserve Bank and Innovia Films, a British-based specialty plastics producer. Innovia was the subject of a €320 million leveraged buyout in 2004 that was led by Candover Partners, the funds management arm of Candover Investments.
Candover was a high-profile private equity investor in Britain and Europe during the boom. But Candover Partners shut its main private equity fund in January after Candover Investments failed to inject new capital, and Candover Investments announced last month that intended to sell its assets, and return the cash proceeds to its investors.
Innovia and its stake in Securency are not automatically on the block following Candover Investments' move. The senior investor in Innovia is Candover Partners, not Candover Investments, and there are other non-Candover shareholders.
