reportedly arrested on suspicion of
bribing a Norwegian official alleged to
have been involved in the controversial
sale of the former naval vessels to a
private security firm belonging to ex-
Niger Delta militant, Government
Ekpemuplo, better known as Tompolo.
A joint investigation by the City of
London’s Overseas Anti-Corruption Unit
(OACU) and their counterparts in Norway,
Okokrim, sought to ascertain how the
former warships, including missile-
torpedo boats (MTBs), ended up under
the control Tompolo.
Okokrim, Norway’s National Authority for
Investigation and Prosecution of
Economic and Environmental Crime, was
given the responsibility of investigating
how the sale of the vessels was fast-
tracked to a UK-registered company but
ended up in the fleet owned by Tompolo.
It is believed that the Norwegian
authorities assumed that the MTBs, after
being sold, would be converted to
unarmed vessels and operate under
European laws.
In the course of the investigation into the
sale, detectives from the OACU arrested a
man in his early 40s at his home in
Alfreton, Derbyshire, and a man in his late
50s at an address in East Molesey, Surrey.
The pair are alleged to have made
payments to a Norwegian civil servant
totalling more than $150,000. The money,
which was paid in two separate
transactions, is alleged to have been paid
directly into the official’s personal bank
account.
The cash is alleged to have helped secure
the sale of the decommissioned
Norwegian Navy ships by disguising the
eventual destination of the warships.
Authorities in Norway revealed that the
arrested men are connected to a UK firm
specialising in maritime services, CAS
Global, which has its headquarters in
Walton-on-Thames, Surrey.
Meanwhile, Police in Norway have
arrested a third man in Tonsberg on the
country’s south west coast.
DCI Danny Medlycott, head of the OACU,
while speaking on the operation,
described it as a “great example” of how
his unit was working closely with other
international enforcement partners “to
combat bribery and corruption.”
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