CBI arrests Aus citizen for bribe in Afghanistan

The Central Bureau of Investigation in India has detained an Australian national working as a senior construction manager for an intergovernmental organisation in Afghanistan.

The United States department of justice has said Neil P Campbell, 60, would be extradited to the US. Campbell was indicted, August 19, by a federal grand jury in Washington, DC, on the charge of receiving a bribe as an agent of an organisation receiving federal funds.

The indictment was unsealed following his detention in New Delhi on October 13, 2010, by CBI sleuths. According to the indictment, Campbell worked for the International Organisation on Migration, which has received more than US$ 260 million since 2002 from USAID.

The IOM has worked closely with both the US and Afghanistan governments to construct hospitals, schools and other facilities. The indictment alleges that from May 25 until August 5 in Afghanistan, Campbell corruptly solicited a bribe for awarding sub-contracts funded by USAID. According to the indictment, he allegedly solicited a one-time cash payment of US$ 190,000 to allow a sub-contractor in Afghanistan to continue working on projects to build a hospital and provincial teaching college.

"There is too much at stake in Afghanistan to tolerate individuals who corrupt efforts to build schools and hospitals by lining their own pockets," US Attorney Machen stated. Campbell, a citizen of Australia, is now facing extradition from India to the US to answer this charge. The maximum penalty on the bribery charge is 10 years in prison and a US$ 250,000 fine. Under federal sentencing guidelines, the likely prison term for the offense is in the range of 41 to 51 months.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of criminal laws, and every defendant is presumed innocent until, and unless, proven guilty.

"This arrest serves as a strong warning to all who defraud the US in Afghanistan that they will be found and held accountable, regardless of citizenship," said Arnold Fields, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.