Warning for construction firms with Iraq connections

UK construction firms which dealt with Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq under the Oil-For-Food Programme need to brace themselves for possible criminal investigations.

The warning follows revelations in bridge builder Mabey & Johnson's recent annual results that it admitted to the Serious Fraud Office in April that it "may have indirectly made two payments" to the regime in 2002, in breach of UN sanctions.

Mike Pullen, a partner at law firm DLA Piper, said: "The Serious Fraud Office is actively considering a number of cases at the moment."