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Australia coal exporters to China accused of bribery, lying about quality
- The alleged misconduct also included exports to Japan, South Korea and India, said a lawmaker citing thousands of documents from a whistle-blower
- Australian MP Andrew Wilkie accused the companies of lying about the quality of their coal exports for years, and called for a parliamentary inquiry
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Reutersin Sydney
Coal companies operating in Australia are exporting coal with fraudulent quality certificates and paying cover-up bribes to representatives of overseas customers, a lawmaker told parliament citing thousands of documents from a whistle-blower.
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Independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the companies of lying about the quality of their coal exports for years, and called for a parliamentary inquiry into the matter.
He claimed the misconduct includes exports to Japan, South Korea, China and India, and involves companies including Anglo American, Glencore, Peabody and TerraCom.
Wilkie said accounting giant Ernst and Young was aware of the issue, without elaborating, and he also named Macquarie Bank but did not specify how the company was involved.
“Companies operating in Australia are using fraudulent quality reports for their exports, and paying bribes to representatives of their overseas customers to keep the whole scam secret,” Wilkie said in his speech in parliament on Monday.
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“And this has allowed them to claim, for years, that Australian coal is cleaner than it is in order to boost profits and prevent rejection of shipments at their destination.”
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