Leighton Holdings ex-boss Wal King denies bribe claim Shares in construction giant Leighton have dropped by nearly 10 per cent following reports of corruption. FORMER Leighton Holdings chief executive Wal King has denied explosive claims about a bribery and corruption scandal that has been hanging over the $6 billion mining and construction giant since an Australian Federal Police investigation began last year. The claims - published in Fairfax Media yesterday - sparked a shares rout that wiped more than $700 million off the value of Leighton Holdings, which had revenue of $23bn last year. They related to a possible "breach of ethics" surrounding work on $1.2bn worth of Iraqi oil contracts awarded between November 2010 and October 2011 that prompted the company to contact the AFP over a possible "breach of ethics." A barge-building project in Indonesia was also widely known to be at the centre of corruption allegations. GRAPHIC: Leighton Holdings Mr King was chief executive of Leighton for 23 years, when it won billions of dollars' worth of global contracts. Before his departure in 2010, he was criticised for excessive executive pay, after receiving more than $14m during 2010 and collecting more than $100m in remuneration since 2004. The Fairfax Media reports suggested corruption, bribery and serious misconduct at Leighton was wider than previously thought, spreading through its international operations. Multi-million-dollar kickbacks were allegedly paid for numerous projects, including the construction of a dam in Malaysia. Fairfax said it had obtained hundreds of confidential documents related to the case, including a handwritten note from acting chief executive David Stewart in November 2010 that allegedly showed Mr King approved a $42m payment to a firm in Monaco nominated by Iraqi officials for a $750m oil pipeline contract. Fairfax understood Mr King disputed entirely Mr Stewart's version of events, based as it was on comments from a Leighton official to Mr Stewart. Mr King yesterday emphatically denied the allegations and said he was seeking legal advice. "I deny the allegation of any prior knowledge," he told The Australian . He told the ABC yesterday that he did not have any knowledge of circumstances in Iraq, and had never visited the country and had not spoken to the AFP. The latest claim comes amid an inquiry into the performance of the Australian Securities & Investments Commission by the Senate economics references committee. Labor senator Doug Cameron said the Leighton case demonstrated the need for change at ASIC, which he said had been "arrogant" and evasive. ASIC, which has previously probed the company on its disclosure, said the matter was not one for the commission, but for the police. Leighton yesterday issued a three-page statement to the Australian Securities Exchange, saying it was "deeply concerned" by the allegations published by Fairfax Media and was not aware of any new allegations or instances of a breach of its ethics. The Australian understands one of the main impediments to the AFP's investigation into Leighton's activities has been the complex, multinational character of the investigation and the fact the AFP has lodged a number of so-called "mutual assistance requests," known as MARs, with developing countries that have not received a response. The Leighton reports come more than four years after the Howard government announced it would strengthen laws against bribery in the wake of the Australian Wheat Board "wheat-for-weapons" scandal. A Leighton analyst at the Commonwealth Bank, Ben Brownette, said cases involving major companies such as Leighton were not unusual. He cited a case involving Lend Lease, which last year admitted to cheating its US clients for a decade on projects including the 9/11 memorial and New York's Grand Central Station, and agreed to pay a fine of $US40.5 million. Additional reporting: Joe Kelly