The former chief executive of a specialist reinsurance company - founded by ex-UKIP leader Lord Pearson - was jailed for twenty-one months today for sanctioning £1,267,438 in bribes to Costa Rican government officials to guarantee multi-million pound contracts.
Ex-CEO of City-based PWS International Ltd Julian Jeffery Messent,50, of Chiltern Hills Road, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, padded his fat salary with an additional £428,000-plus in bonuses the kickbacks secured.
The father-of-five claims the covert payments - made to accounts in Panama, the U.S and a Florida travel agency as well as the officials' wives AMEX cards - were common knowledge at PWS International Ltd, a claim Lord Pearson denies.
The company, founded by Lord Pearson in 1964 reportedly provided $4 billion U.S. worth of coverage for Costa Rica's state-owned hydro-electric power plants, which owns property worth $36 billion U.S.
Messent (pictured) pleaded guilty to corruptly giving $25,843.22 to Roxana Bogentes, wife of Alvaro Acuna, an agent of Instituto Nacional de Seguros (INS) on or about February 9, 1999 to assist PWS International Ltd.
He similarly pleaded guilty to corruptly giving $250,000 to Reska Financial Inc. a company associated with an agent of INS, Cristobal Zawadski, on or about June 7, 2002.
Messent also asked for thirty-nine similar offences to be taken into consideration involving bribes from $500 upwards paid between February, 1999 and June, 2002 to ensure PWS kept the U-500 contract.
"I have no doubt others were involved in the process," the Recorder of Westminster Geoffrey Rivlin QC told Messent at Southwark Crown Court. "You did not initiate the corrupt relationship between PWS and INS and ICE."
The first PWS bribe in March 1997 was disguised as a $100,000 'loan' and sanctioned by a Colombian-born female employee of the company, with Messent's kick-backs securing the next three contracts, which reinsured ICE (Costa Rica's state-owned hydro-electricity and telephone service).
He "orchestrated" those bribes announced Judge Rivlin who told Messent: "This is not to say you were the only person within PWS that knew what was going on. You did not seek to disguise what was going on from senior figures."
The Serious Fraud Office were told Messent was the "fall guy" by a PWS insider and the defendant insists he "inherited" the bribes - disguised as commissions - which were known to colleagues and the heads of the finance and compliance departments.
He was appointed chief executive in August 2003, but stood down in September 2006 after INS uncovered the scandal when investigating a rogue $51,000 payment.
In September 2003 the company's annual income was £25 million. It is now part of the THB group.
"One of the major factors for the liquidation of the company was this investigation," prosecutor Mr. Hodge Malek told the court.
The SFO did not pursue a prosecution against PWS because if successful the only punishment would be a fine, diminishing the company's already depleted pension fund.
"The directing will and mind of the company was Mr. Messent," added the QC.
"Corruption such as this is very very difficult to investigate. You are looking at a very sophisticated operation with overseas bank accounts."
Messent's QC David Perry said: "The loss of his reputation means it is highly unlikely he will ever be reemployed in the insurance industry. The only industry he has known since graduating from university."
Judge Rivlin added: "This contract was systematically abused by officials at INS and ICE.
He told Messent: "Your part was so fundamental that it is not right to describe you as a fall guy...........The state of Costa Rica funded the corruption of its own officials by a foreigner.
"Only an immediate custodial sentence is appropriate," added the Judge who also ordered Messent to pay £100,000 compensation to Costa Rica or serve an additional twelve months and disqualified him from being a company director for five years.
Before his appointment Mr. Messent was a senior director with the company for nine years.
PWS at it's peak employed 250 people in 20 worldwide offices including Miami, Shanghai and Jakarta and had clients in over 100 countries.
Former Costa Rican President Angel Rodriguez and six other officials were charged with corruption in November, last year.
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