The British Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has arrested three people in connection with an international bribery investigation into infrastructure supplier Blu-3 and former construction company Mace Group employees. The investigation centers on alleged bribery in constructing the Microsoft data center in Middenmeer, North Holland.
The SFO announced on Wednesday that more than 70 fraud service employees were involved in searches at four residential addresses and one business location in Great Britain. Authorities in Monaco also searched a suspect’s home.
According to the British fraud service, Blu-3 employees are suspected of paying more than £3 million (approximately €3.5 million) in bribes to individuals they describe as former employees of Mace Group. The bribery is allegedly linked to constructing a data center for Microsoft in the Netherlands.
Zero tolerance for corruption
A spokesperson for Mace Group stated: “Mace has a zero tolerance approach to breaches of our code of ethics and takes any allegations of bribery extremely seriously. We are committed to fully supporting the Serious Fraud Office in investigating allegations against any former associates of the group.”
Blu-3 has also indicated that it will cooperate fully with the external SFO investigation. “We take matters of this nature extremely seriously and are committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity and ethical conduct across all of our operations,” the company said in a statement.
Microsoft has not yet responded.
The investigation is still in its early stages, and further details about the exact nature of the alleged bribery and the individuals involved have not yet been disclosed. The SFO is known for its investigations into large-scale fraud and corruption in the business world.
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