VAR in 'cash for contracts' row
Orbital Solutions employees accused of bribery and corruption
Two employees of Essex-based reseller Orbital Solutions appeared at Southwark Crown Court last week, accused of allegedly making payments to a council official in return for placing orders.
Christopher Clarke, managing director of Orbital, and John Brett, an accounts executive at the firm, stand accused of 10 offences for making payments to Havering Council official Kevin Barry in return for secret information regarding council contracts over a 14-month period.
It is alleged that Barry rigged a bidding war for the IT firm, and also split profits from the operation worth £145,000.
Prosecutor Jane Bewsey was quoted in the Evening Standard as saying: "The allegation is that these men gave corrupt payments to Mr Barry to secure orders from him. In other words, they gave him bribes in return for him placing orders with their firm."
Orbital Solutions supplies a variety of IT equipment, including severs, desktop PCs, printing equipment and storage, and works with vendors such as Cisco, Fujitsu-Siemens and Hewlett-Packard.
Clarke and Brett, both of Stringfield, Chelmsford, deny 10 counts of corruption between 8 July 1999 and 4 September 2000.