Eight US Congress members have called for a Department of Justice investigation into tobacco firm, BAT following allegations the company bribed officials and senior politicians in Africa to undermine UN health campaigns and put rival cigarette-makers out of business.
The congressmen from both the Senate and the House of Representatives – have called for an investigation into whether it has violated the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
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“The allegations lodged against BAT are an affront to public health and US law. These allegations raise clear questions about whether BAT violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act – a question DoJ [Department of Justice] must answer. With tobacco companies exploiting growth opportunities in Africa, actions like BAT’s threaten to undermine the WHO’s global tobacco treaty and condemn the entire continent to generations of smoking, cancer, and preventable death.” Said On of the Senior politicians of the US Congress.
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The congress men led by Lloyd Doggett and senator Richard Blumenthal, suggest that BAT’s actions may have violated both the Anti-Bribery and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Acts (FCPA). If proven, the allegations – denied by BAT – could result in jail terms for the company’s executives.
“We have not heard from the US Department of Justice regarding any of the historic allegations made by Panorama last year but, if we do, we will of course cooperate with them,” the spokesman said. “In the meantime, we take the allegations of historic misconduct in East Africa extremely seriously and are working with our external legal counsel to fully investigate all these claims.”
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An official from BAT’s London Headquarters said that they are willing to closely work with the investigators when the time “comes’.
