Arms-deal agent named
2003-07-02 11:11
Pretoria - Osprey Aviation, a Johannesburg-based aviation specialist company, was BAE Systems' agent in South Africa at the time of the multibillion-rand arms deal.
BAE Systems spokesperson Phil Soucy said his company decided to reveal the name of the agent for the sake of transparency after "wild allegations" concerning billions of rands in commission had been circulating since Monday.
Soucy said the rumours on the amounts involved were "absurd". According to him, Osprey Aviation's payment has been calculated on professional scales and is "completely acceptable". Richard Charter is the head of Osprey.
The British parliament confirmed the payment of commission in the arms deal, but did not disclose the amount.
Soucy said BAE Systems contracted Charter in 1994 to act as their commercial consultant. Before that there were ties between the two companies. Osprey helped with the marketing of BAE Systems' private jets.