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LONDON: The head of Britain's fraud office has disputed government claims that an investigation into a defence contract with Saudi Arabia was unlikely to lead to charges, the Financial Times said on Saturday.
Robert Wardle, of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), told the newspaper it was not possible to reach a firm view until an investigation into the deal involving BAE Systems Plc was completed.
“These is no guarantee that charges will be brought until you've completed an investigation … so I had perhaps a different view,” Wardle was quoted as saying by the FT.
The two-year corruption inquiry into a multi-billion-pound defence deal with Saudi Arabia was dropped on Thursday after the government warned the investigation could undermine national security.
That reversal followed reports that Saudi Arabia had warned Britain it might cancel an order for 72 Eurofighter Typhoon jets from BAE Systems over the inquiry into past dealings involving Saudi officials and people working on behalf of BAE.
The government's top lawyer, Lord Goldsmith, had said there was no guarantee the investigation, which would take another 18 months to complete, would lead to prosecution.
Arms sales to Saudi Arabia represent the biggest export deals in British history and analysts said the latest, worth an estimated 10 billion pounds ($19.6 billion), had been at risk.
Thousands of jobs may have been threatened.
