Trial at Southwark Crown Court concluded: SMB secures acquittal for client in SFO ‘Project Jasmine’ investigation

Following a ten-week trial at Southwark Crown Court, SMB’s Crime team yesterday secured the acquittal of Peter Smith, a senior executive in the freight and logistics industry who, along with five others, faced charges brought by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) as part of their long-running ‘Project Jasmine’ investigation. He was charged with two counts of conspiracy to make corrupt payments in relation to the awarding of contracts worth tens of millions of pounds to FH Bertling for the supply of freight forwarding services in a North Sea oil exploration project. The SFO alleged that Peter Smith played a pivotal role in a complex scheme to pay and disguise a series of bribes through a company bank account in Dubai to ensure the award of the contract, and later to ensure inflated invoices were approved.

Peter Smith gave evidence over four days following which a jury at Southwark Crown Court unanimously acquitted him on both counts. SMB’s Crime team was led by Partner and joint Head of Department Phil Smith and Associate Henrietta Ronson.

Coverage of the trial:

• City AM
• Wall Street Journal
• Reuters
• Serious Fraud Office
• Energy Voice
• The FCPA Blog
• This Is Money
• London Loves Business
• Global Investigations Review