Suspect Acquitted In Gripen Case Linked To Hungary

  • 18 Jan 2013 8:00 AM
Suspect Acquitted In Gripen Case Linked To Hungary
An Austrian court on Thursday acquitted Count Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly of charges of money-laundering linked to the procurement of fighter aircraft by the governments of Hungary, Austria and the Czech Republic.

Mensdorff-Pouilly, a former advisor to British arms concern BAE Systems, had been accused of being paid €12.6 million for corruption purposes through a covert network of companies to facilitate such deals as Hungary’s purchase of Swedish-British Gripen fighter jets in 2001.

However, the court found that there was not enough evidence that the money had been used to bribe decision-makers in the three countries.

“The whole thing stinks, but not enough” to justify a conviction, Judge Stefan Apostol said as he read out the verdict.

The prosecutor vowed to file an appeal.

Source: Hungary Around the Clock

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