BHP subject to bribery inquiries BHP Billiton is the subject of a joint US-Australian criminal bribery investigation into alleged inducements, hospitality or gifts given to foreign officials, including Chinese dignitaries wooed as part of a multimillion-dollar hospitality and sponsorship program for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The allegations are the subject of investigations involving the Criminal Division of the US Department of Justice and the Australian Federal Police. The company and a small number of its staff or consultants face the prospect of criminal charges or other serious criminal or civil sanctions here and abroad. In response to a freedom of information request, the US Justice Department stated that it was conducting "law enforcement proceedings" involving BHP Billiton. The federal police said it had received a formal referral from US investigators and was working "very closely" with them. The inquiries are linked to BHP Billiton's activities in several countries before 2009, including China, Australia and at least two other Asian countries, thought to be Cambodia and the Philippines. Federal police have reviewed US files and have discovered, according to a confidential briefing federal agents gave an international bribery taskforce last year, "suspicious transactions that had been recorded as legitimate business payments" by BHP Billiton. The AFP said in a statement to Fairfax Media that the BHP-Billiton allegations had been scrutinised by its new "Foreign Bribery Panel of Experts" to ensure they are investigated properly. The laws that may have been broken by the mining company, its staff or consultants are the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and Australian state or federal corporate and criminal laws, including the foreign bribery act that prohibits any benefit being given to a public official in order to obtain a business advantage. Public knowledge of BHP-Billiton's possible exposure to foreign bribery inquiries has previously been limited to its formal statement to the market in 2010 that it had given the US Securities and Exchange Commission "evidence that it has uncovered regarding possible violations of applicable anti-corruption laws involving interactions with government officials" from an internal inquiry. The company declined to respond to specific questions from Fairfax Media about alleged impropriety linked to the Beijing Games and activities in Western Australia, citing the need to liaise with the SEC before commenting publicly.