Senior British defence ministry officials agreed to pay members of Saudi Arabia’s royal family and military millions of pounds in order to secure lucrative contracts, a trial of a top executive at an Airbus subsidiary and one of his associates has heard.
A jury at Southwark Crown Court was told on Monday by lawyers for the two men facing corruption charges that the British government authorised “every penny” of payments to Saudi officials to secure sensitive military contracts from Riyadh.
The case relates to a UK government deal to provide communications services to the Saudi Arabian National Guard, which were delivered by GPT Special Project Management, a now defunct unit of Airbus.