On May 6, 2021, Bombardier Inc., an aircraft manufacturer based in Montreal, Canada and listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, disclosed in its first quarter 2021 financial report that the company received a request for documents and information from the US Department of Justice on February 26, 2021, related to corruption allegations regarding conduct in Indonesia. As described in Bombardier’s financial report, in May 2020, “the Indonesian Corruption Court convicted the former CEO of Garuda Indonesia (Persero) TBK and his associate of corruption and money laundering in connection with five procurement processes” (the “Garuda Transactions”). One of these five procurements involved the “acquisition and lease” of a Bombardier CRJ1000 airplane by Garuda Indonesia. No charges were brought by Indonesian authorities against Bombardier or any of its officers, employees, or directors, but, nonetheless, following the conviction of the former CEO of Garuda Indonesia, Bombardier retained outside counsel to conduct an internal investigation into its involvement in the Garuda Transactions.
The DOJ document request follows the UK Serious Fraud Office’s launch of a formal investigation into Bombardier. In November of 2020, the SFO confirmed that it had commenced an investigation into Bombardier in connection with aircraft orders by Garuda Indonesia. In its first quarter 2021 financial report, Bombardier confirmed that the SFO investigation and Bombardier’s internal review are both ongoing. The company also disclosed that it had met with the SFO to share voluntarily the status of its internal review.
Bombardier First Quarter 2021 Report