BHP-owned Oz Minerals has escaped criminal prosecution after agreeing to pay a hefty fine for bribing Cambodian officials to gain mining permits.
After a long-running criminal investigation that concluded in 2021, the Australian Federal Police decided not to initiate criminal proceedings, instead agreeing to a settlement confiscating $9.3 million in benefits derived from the alleged bribery.
AFP Commander Christopher Woods says Oz Minerals fully co-operated with the investigation and has taken steps to ensure similar behaviour does not happen again.
"Given the level of cooperation and remediation shown by the company in this case, the AFP supported the company’s submission to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions that it not be prosecuted on public interest grounds," he said on Friday.
Oz Minerals self-reported to the AFP that its employees may have bribed foreign officials to obtain mining rights in Cambodia between November 2006 and October 2009.
The Cambodia Daily newspaper reported in 2011 Oz Minerals paid more than $US1 million ($A952,699) to three women on the board of its joint-venture partner Shin Ha when it acquired the company two years earlier.
The AFP reopened its investigation into the company in 2013 after the OECD reported it was concerned with the extremely low enforcement of anti-foreign bribery laws in Australia.
The OECD report alleged the AFP dismissed the allegations before a formal investigation was opened after receiving information that the transaction was undertaken with due diligence and that all payments were made at the joint venture partner's request.
Australia's largest company BHP acquired Oz Minerals in December for $9.6 billion, gaining control of the company's long-life copper and nickel assets.
