Kickback claims

BAT faces Serious Fraud Office inquiry into African bribery allegations

FRAUD investigators have opened a formal inquiry into allegations of bribes between tobacco giant British American Tobacco and African government officials two years after the claims originally surfaced.

The maker of Dunhill and Lucky Strike cigarettes is being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office. The inquiry is understood to be linked to claims made by a whistleblower through the BBC’S Panorama programme in 2015 that illegal payments had previously been made to civil servants and politicians in East Africa.

The SFO confirmed it was investigating “suspicions of corruption” at BAT, its subsidiaries and people associated with the firm.

A spokesman for BAT said it had been conducting its own investigation into the claims since they emerged with the help of an external legal firm and had been liaising with the SFO during this time. It added it would continue to co-operate with the government fraud watchdog.

In spite of the announcement, one analyst, who wished to remain anonymous, said the revelation that the SFO had launched formal proceedings did not change expectations about how the company would perform financially.

“BAT has said it has studied the claims and doesn’t think there is much in them,” the analyst said.

“A key thing is that it has got nothing to do with the American Department of Justice as their punishments can be more harsh.”

A fund manager which backs BAT said SFO headlines had generally been “buying opportunities in stocks or usually completely ignored by the stock market”. BAT’S shares ended up 2.5pc at £48.32 yesterday.