£5.6m Innospec bribe to keep lead in fuels

THE British arm of a chemical firm faces an £8 million fine after it admitted bribing officials to prolong the use of harmful lead-based fuel in Indonesia.

Innospec conspired to give corrupt payments totalling more than $8.5m (5.6m) to public officials in return for Indonesian government contracts between February 2002 and December 2006.

The corruption involved the anti-knock fuel additive Tetra-ethyl lead, a major source of income for the company before health and environmental concerns led to its disappearance from the US and Europe by 2000.