A former executive of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia was arrested and charged on Wednesday with bribery following an investigation involving Australian and U.S. authorities.
Keith Hunter, a 61-year old U.S. national and Sydney resident, is suspected, with another former CBA employee, of having granted a U.S. IT company a contract without putting it to public tender, the Australian police said. In exchange, the two allegedly received payment.
More than $1.5 million in suspected corrupt payments were frozen by the Fraud and Cybercrime Squad, the police added.
Hunter was granted bail following a brief court appearance. He intends to plead not guilty, his lawyer said, and will next appear in court on April 1.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia said in a statement it had reported the matter to the police, and that its customers were not affected by the alleged fraud.
The charges come a day after a court sentenced to jail a former Australian foreign exchange trader at National Australia Bank who used confidential economic data to make dozens of illegal trades.
