Four British nationals (three men and a woman) were on Monday charged before Westminster Magistrates’ Court in the United Kingdom for two offences of conspiracy to corruption.

The charges relate to payments said to have been made to agents of the Rivers State Board of Internal Revenue and the Lagos State Board of Internal Revenue between 2008 and 2009.

A statement by the British Serious Fraud Office claimed that the charges are coming after “a two-year investigation into allegations of corruption in relation to the tax affairs of Swift Technical Energy Solutions Ltd, a Nigerian subsidiary of the Swift Group of companies.”

The value of the bribes alleged to have been paid is approximately £180,000 (N45million).

The defendants are, the former Chief Financial Officer of Swift, Paul Jacobs, the former Tax Manager of Swift, Bharat Sodha and the former Financial Controller of Swift, Nidhi Vyas.

The last defendant is the former Area Director for Nigeria of Swift, Trevor Bruce.

Swift is a provider of manpower for the oil and gas industry, employing over 3,000 contractors in over 35 countries.

The statement further reveals that “This prosecution has been brought following an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office in conjunction with the City of London Police into allegations that employees or agents of Swift had paid bribes to tax officials to avoid, reduce or delay paying tax on behalf of workers placed by Swift.”