UK defence firm Ultra Electronics to pay £15m after SFO bribery investigation

Company accepts it failed to prevent bribery in public sector contracts in Algeria and Oman, sought through use of agents

The British defence company Ultra Electronics has accepted responsibility for failure to prevent bribery and agreed to pay £15m after an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office.

The penalties are part of a deferred prosecution approved by the high court on Friday, after an investigation opened in 2018, when the company referred itself to the UK law enforcement agency a month after corruption allegations were published by Algerian media.