ID :
182484
Mon, 05/16/2011 - 14:14
Auther :

NBN boss explains blank on Alcatel bribery


AAP-May,16-NBN Co boss Mike Quigley has blamed the distraction of the 2000 tech wreck for his failure to know about corrupt conduct at the French communications equipment firm he once led.
Alcatel-Lucent last December was fined $US137 million ($A130 million) after a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation found it had paid bribes to government officials in Costa Rica and other countries to secure contracts.
Mr Quigley was the firm's Americas president, then president and chief operating officer of the multinational firm between 2001 and 2006, when the events took place.
NBN Co's chief financial officer Jean-Pascal Beaufret was also previously associated with Alcatel, as its chief financial officer.
There is no suggestion either executive was in any way involved in the corruption.
But in light of the US investigation, Mr Quigley on Monday said that when the corrupt conduct was going on his mind had been focused on the global technology stock crash and its fallout.
"It was for me, frankly, a particularly difficult time," he told a federal joint parliamentary committee hearing in Sydney on Monday.
"That's clearly where my attention was. That is no excuse."
In his new role as head of the company behind the federal government's roll-out of a $36 billion high-speed national broadband network (NBN), Mr Quigley vowed to keep a close eye on things.
"It's clearly the case that you always have to be vigilant," Mr Quigley said.
"You can't assume that people will always do the right thing."
Mr Quigley had previously said Costa Rica fell outside his area of jurisdiction.
But on Monday he confirmed that was not the case and apologised to the committee.
"I clearly was advised by one of my previous colleagues in North America, who's currently still with Alcatel-Lucent, to check for me whether Costa Rica was within my area of operation and control," he said.
"On the basis of that advice, I stated that it was not.
"This was an error for which I unreservedly apologise."
NBN Co on Friday issued a statement saying that, contrary to previous advice, Costa Rica was among the many countries in North, Central and South America that were part of Mr Quigley's "wide-ranging portfolio of responsibilities" between March 2001 to January 2003.
Federal opposition communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull said Communications Minister Stephen Conroy and the government should have been more aware of Mr Quigley's role with Alcatel-Lucent.
"No one is suggesting he was responsible for paying bribes. But it's quite clear in Alcatel, there was a systemic global practice of corrupt activities," he told reporters in Sydney on Monday.
"There's no effort to impugn his integrity, but as representatives of the people whose taxes are paying for this NBN, we are entitled to ask questions and try to get to the facts."
Mr Quigley said it would be better to refrain from making further comments about the US investigation into Alcatel-Lucent, which operates in about 130 countries.
He maintained that at no time had the SEC sought to interview or question him about those matters.
Alcatel-Lucent last December agreed to pay fines and penalties to settle the US charges relating to bribes paid in countries in Latin America and Asia between December 2001 and June 2006.




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