Serious Fraud Office
Three people have been arrested as part of a Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation into alleged £3m bribes linked to a Microsoft data centre project in the Netherlands.
The SFO said the individuals were detained for questioning during dawn raids on five properties across London, Kent, Surrey and Somerset on Wednesday.
The operation targeted UK infrastructure firm Blu-3 and ex-associates of global construction group Mace.
Authorities in Monaco also searched the premises of a suspect with assistance from the SFO.
The raids form part of a wider investigation into payments allegedly made by Blu-3 to Mace associates in relation to the construction the data centre.
The SFO confirmed that more than 70 staff were deployed during the operation, which raided four homes and one commercial property.
The investigation is being supported by the National Crime Agency.
Solicitor general Lucy Rigby MP attended one of the arrests in North London.
She said: “Bribery undermines the values of fairness and playing by the rules, and hurts individuals, businesses and our wider economy.”
SFO director Nick Ephgrave said the arrests showed that the agency would act “rapidly and robustly” to tackle bribery and corruption.
A spokesman for Blu-3 said that the company was fully cooperating with the SFO investigation.
He said: “We take matters of this nature extremely seriously and are committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity and ethical conduct across all of our operations.”
A Mace spokesperson said: “
“Mace has a zero tolerance approach to breaches of our code of ethics, and takes any allegations of bribery extremely seriously. We are committed to fully supporting the Serious Fraud Office in investigating allegations against any former associates of the Group.”
Microsoft is not accused of any wrongdoing.
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Colin Marrs