India’s top investigative agency has filed a criminal complaint accusing Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems of engaging in corruption over historic deals to supply fighter jets to the country.
The Central Bureau of Investigation alleged that the companies had between 2003 and 2012 engaged in a “criminal conspiracy” to “cheat the government of India” over deals to manufacture dozens of BAE’s Hawk aircraft, which used Rolls-Royce engines.
The complaint revives historic allegations of wrongdoing against Rolls-Royce, which in 2017 reached a deferred prosecution agreement with the UK’s Serious Fraud Office following a years-long investigation. The SFO accused the company of illegal practices over three decades in what was at the time one of its longest running cases.