World Bank bans Australian engineer for fraud
14 June 2013
The World Bank has banned Australian engineer and consultant GHD and two of its subsidiaries – GHD Indonesian Operating Center and PT Global Hutama Desain – from projects it finances for one year.
The debarments follow an investigation by the Bank which it said revealed evidence of fraud on a management consultancy contract for a Bank-financed infrastructure project in Indonesia. The debarment came into effect on June 10, 2013.
Leonard McCarthy, World Bank integrity vice president, said, “There is no excuse for international companies not to ensure they have a code of ethics and integrity that can govern their involvement in projects benefitting the poor.
“Meeting the provisions of the World Bank's compliance standards is a prerequisite to doing development business with the Bank. This case demonstrates that our commitment to detecting and investigating fraud in Bank-financed projects remains a top priority to ensure development funds reach their intended beneficiaries.”
GHD was unavailable for comment.
The debarment follows a string of similar actions by the World Bank as it seeks to crack down on corruption on projects it funds.
In April, subsidiaries of Canadian contractor SNC Lavalin were banned from any involvement in projects it finances for a decade – the longest debarment period it has ever imposed – due to bribery claims.
And in March, Indian's largest contractor Larsen & Toubro was also blocked from winning World Bank-funded contracts for six months due to fraud.
