Weir agrees £13.95m confiscation order for Iraq breaches

Engineering company Weir Group plc will pay £13.95m plus a fine to be fixed after agreeing to plead guilty to two charges of breaching UN sanctions on contracts related to the Oil For Food program in Iraq between 2000 and 2002.

Weir announced it had agreed the plea with the Crown Office in Scotland. The company will be formally charged later today (Dec 13) and it is expected that the case will be heard at the High Court in Edinburgh tomorrow.

Following the guilty plea, Wier will be subject to a confiscation order in respect of its benefit from the offences. Subject to court approval, it has agreed an amount of £13,945,962 with the Crown.

In addition the company will be liable to a fine to be decided by the court.

Chairman Lord Smith said, 'What happened was wrong. As I said in 2004, I am bitterly disappointed that this went on within the Weir Group.

'Since 2004, when we first disclosed the issue, we have radically overhauled procedures. A strong ethics culture is in place across the group and it is the reference point for everything we do.'

Weir shares were up 17p at 1781p.

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