An executive of Colombia’s largest airliner Avianca sought at least $4 million in bribes to secure the purchase of 100 aircraft from Airbus, according to French authorities.
The European aircraft manufacturer agreed to pay a $3.9 billion fine to French, British and American authorities after admitting to bribery practices throughout the world between 2004 and 2016.
“The largest single order ever made in Latin America’s aviation history”
One of these bribes was agreed with “Y,” a senior executive of Avianca’s mother companies Avianca Holdings and the Synergy Group of controversial businessman German Efromovich, Airbus’ General Councel John Harrisson admitted.
French anti-corruption agency AFA said that this bribe was agreed ahead of the sale of 100 so-called A320neo aircraft in April 2015.
The deal that at the time was hailed as “the largest single order ever made in Latin America’s aviation history” followed a bribery deal between Airbus’ international strategy and marketing branch, SMO International, with Y, the AFA found.
French Anti-Corruption Agency
The bribes agreed with “Y”
Airbus admitted it began coveting a senior executive of Avianca Holdings and the Synergy Group in 2013.
This executive should be granted “AAA treatment because we are campaigning with Avianca/Synergy,” the investigators found in a November 2013 email.
In October 2014, “the senior executive of Avianca Holdings had requested a commission for his role in supporting the ongoing A320neo sales campaign to Avianca,” Airbus admitted to the authorities.
This commission to Y would be deducted from the commission of Airbus’ sales intermediary in Colombia, a company executive referred to as X decided, another anonymous Airbus executive wrote SMO International in November that year.
Anonymous Airbus executive
“This Airbus manager later confirmed that the figures referred to in this e-mail were “millions” [of euros] and that they concerned a payment being negotiated with the sales intermediary, part of which was to be paid to the Avianca Holdings executive,” the AFA said.
Y never got the money he was promised as Airbus in 2014 froze payments to “Z,” the Colombian sales intermediary it had worked with since 2006.
Airbus reported the bribery practices to British and French authorities in 2016 after an internal investigation ended the entire bribery scheme between SMO International, referred to as XX, and its partners in Colombia.
Anonymous Airbus executive
All quiet in Colombia
Airbus’ $3.9 billion fine dwarfs the $2.6 billion fine slapped on Brazilian engineering firm Odebrecht for its bribery practices in, among other countries, Colombia.
Despite Avianca’s alleged involvement in one of the biggest bribery scandals of the century, the Prosecutor General’s Office announced no criminal investigation.
Avianca, which is already embroiled in a corporate spying scandal, also remained quiet.