ADB blacklists 37 companies for corruption
By Our Banking Bureau | 30 Jan 2007
Manila: Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) has announced having blacklisted 37 companies from dealings with it for up to 10 years for violating the bank's anti-corruption code. The bank did not disclose the identities of those it debarred.
It banned 34 firms for one to seven years and three firms for 10 years from competing for ADB contracts. Fourteen individuals were banned indefinitely and 17 for periods ranging from one to seven years, while one person was reprimanded, the ADB said in a statement.
ADB said its 'integrity oversight committee' had found that 37 firms and 32 individuals were in violation of its anti-corruption policy 2006. According to the annual report of its integrity division, it received 171 complaints in 2006, down from 199 in 2005.
More than half of the cases opened in 2006 involved corrupt practices and 42 per cent fraud. Cases against seven staff members were referred to the bank's human resources division to consider disciplinary action.
Misrepresentation and falsification of documents were the most common fraudulent practices investigated in 2006 and collusive practices accounted for 46 per cent of the corruption cases.
