A former manager of a polymer banknote manufacturer, Innovia Securency, was convicted in London on four counts of making corrupt payments to a foreign official contrary to the Prevention of Corruption Act.

He was acquitted on two counts.

Peter Chapman, 54, was convicted after a five week trial at Southwark Crown Court, following a joint investigation by the Serious Fraud Office and the Australian Federal Police into Securency International PTY Ltd.

Chapman, the manager of Innovia Securency’s Africa office, was arrested at Heathrow Airport in April 2015, having been extradited from Brazil.

He was charged with six offenses under the Prevention of Corruption Act on April 30, 2015.

Chapman paid bribes to an agent of Nigerian Security Printing and Minting PLC in order to secure orders for the purchase of reams of polymer substrate from Securency.

The total value of the bribes, he was convicted of paying to the agent was approximately $205,000.

“This has been a long, detailed investigation and a complex prosecution involving assistance from a wide range of jurisdictions,” said David Green of the SFO. “Crimes like this damage the UK’s commercial reputation and this conviction shows that such activity will not be tolerated.”

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and Securency referred allegations of corruption to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in May 2009. The allegations were that Securency, at the time jointly owned by RBA and UK manufacturing firm Innovia Films Ltd, paid bribes to foreign government officials via agents in order to secure contracts with certain governments in Asia and Africa for the printing of banknotes.