The second season of the AFP’s award-winning podcast Crime Interrupted continues with Episode Three: Operation Blare, taking listeners behind the scenes of how AFP intelligence helped crack open an international bribery investigation.
The AFP has partnered with Casefile to produce six new episodes of Crime Interrupted, showcasing counter terrorism, child care fraud, cybercrime operations and more.
Episode Three details Operation Blare, an AFP investigation into the directors of Australian construction company Lifese Pty Ltd for foreign bribery offences.
The investigation began after AFP investigators detected a suspicious US $1 million transfer to Iraq, intended as a payment to a foreign public official in return for preferential treatment during a tender process.
In 2015, three men were charged with conspiracy to bribe a foreign public official and in 2017, all three were convicted by the NSW Supreme Court of conspiracy to bribe an Iraqi official.
AFP Financial Investigations Manager Martin Fryer said Operation Blare was a unique opportunity to look at a bribery conspiracy as it was about to take place.
“Most foreign bribery happens behind closed doors. With this investigation, we were not only through that door, we actually had people in that room listening to the conversations live,” he said.
“It was a very good pickup by our intelligence teams.”
AFP Detective Acting Sergeant Mathew Smith said the live nature of the international investigation created challenges for the investigative team.
“We were intercepting telecommunications and the individuals that we were intercepting, more often than not, spoke in foreign language, particularly when they were discussing the clandestine elements of their business… so sometimes we will be a day or two behind in getting these conversations translated,” he said.
AFP Financial Investigations Manager Martin Fryer said foreign bribery had a huge impact on communities, especially in vulnerable countries.
“It has a huge flow on effect and not a lot of people realise the actual impact…on everyday populations in those regions, because often they’re the ones that can least afford it.”
All three men were initially sentenced to a maximum term of four years’ jail in 2017, with two of the men also fined $250,000 each for their role in the scheme. Two of those sentences were reduced on appeal to a maximum term of three years and four months.
Hear the full story of Operation Blare in the second season of Crime Interrupted, now available to listen for free on all podcast streaming services.
If you suspect that an Australian has committed an offence under the foreign bribery legislation, please report the matter to the AFP or anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
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