According to documents seen by the BBC program ‘Panorama‘, British American Tobacco’s (BAT) private spies were caught spying on Savanna Tobacco’s factory, in Zimbabwe in 2012. After paying for talks with high-ranking Zanu PF members, about a donation of up to half a million dollars, the 3 spies were released. BAT is the manufacturer of Lucky Strike cigarettes and is one of the largest companies in the UK, where the multinational tobacco monopoly is headquartered in London.
The investigation touched on the world of corporate competition, illegal espionage and bribery in Africa, or more specifically the tobacco industry. The focus of the investigation was BAT, which had been accused of bribery in various African states, and the private security firm called Forensic Security Services (FSS), which the company relied on for its business in South Africa.
FSS has long been accused of doing a number of illegal things on behalf of its client BAT, such as eavesdropping on their competitors, putting tracking devices on their cars, or bribing corrupt officials to impede competition and help BAT.
The BBC report was based on leaked documents and the testimony of a former FSS employee, Pieter Snyders (photo), who was very clear about what he had done in the past, and believes that the tobacco giant was well aware of the illegal nature of the FSS operation.
Snyders claims that instead of tackling the sale of counterfeit cigarettes, he violated British law by hiring ‘spies’, paying bribes and using illegal tracking devices.
“They gave us money to do it. I had to specify in my invoice… you had to specify what you used the money for. They said we had to tap [competitors’] phones, physically monitor them, on the trucks, where they are going, where they are unloading and we had to follow them,” he said.
In 2012, the operation returned from Zimbabwe when people paid by FSS to spy on Savanna Tobacco factory, were caught. Three directors of the company had been arrested and charged with illegal espionage.
BTA provided a bribe of about $12,000 to a contractor to gain access to senior people in the party of President Robert Mugabe, to negotiate their release, the BBC reported, referring to the man who carried out this mission. An internal memorandum outlines the terms of the settlement: a generous donation to the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) campaign coffers before Mugabe’s forthcoming re-election would “sort things out.”
“The amount of the donation had to be between USD $ 300,000 and USD $ 500,000 to Zanu PF,” the document reads.
British American Tobacco dismissed the BBC’s allegations that it was sabotaging opponents in Southern Africa, and that it had to bribe Zimbabwe’s ruling party when their spies were caught, as a “wrong characterization of our behaviour.”
BAT insists that their activities were fully legal and were intended to help law enforcement in African countries eliminate crime in the tobacco industry.
Investigators found no evidence that the bribe was indeed delivered, but the three directors were released within days of the transaction being offered.
FSS worked for the British tobacco giant in Southern Africa between 2000 and 2016 but BAT denies any involvement in illegal activities. Paying bribes anywhere in the world would be illegal for a company operating under British jurisdiction.
“We emphatically reject the mischaracterisation of our conduct. Our efforts to combat illegal trade were aimed at assisting law enforcement agencies in the fight against the criminal trade in tobacco products,” the company told the British broadcaster, and added that “Acting responsibly and with integrity underpins the foundations of our culture.”
BAT said the allegations against them are not new, stressing that paying sources for information on criminal conduct is legal, but this is not the first time BAT has been accused of bribery.
The allegations of misconduct first appeared in December 2015, when the BBC’s current affairs program aired claims by whistleblower Paul Hopkins.
BAT has been accused of bribing government officials from at least five African countries in an attempt to undermine a United Nations public health treaty, in violation of British bribery law.
After more than three years of investigating the cigarette giant, over allegations that they bribed government officials in Africa, the British Serious Fraud Office (SFO) dropped its investigation into BAT at the beginning of the year.
It claimed it did not have enough evidence to support a realistic prospect of conviction.
