Australia cracks down on foreign bribery

Sydney April 4 (IANS) The Australian government on Tuesday announced a major crackdown on foreign bribery a media report said.

Justice Minister Michael Keenan announced tough new laws to ensure that perpetrators bribing foreign officials faced the full force of the law Xinhua news agency reported.

Keenan was speaking at the headquarters of the Australian Federal Police.

Corruption costs Australia an estimated $6.46 billion every year.

Foreign bribery is a serious offence. It harms those who play by the rules siphons money away from local communities and undermines the rule of law Keenan said.

But foreign bribery is also very difficult to detect and enforce... Evidence is hard to identify and it can easily be concealed as a legitimate transaction he added.

--IANS
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