Australian Wheat Board

A class action lawsuit filed in Washington claims the Australian Wheat Board (AWB) used bribery and corrupt means to win grain sales in Iraq, Yemen, Pakistan and Indonesia, at the expense of US and Canadian farmers. The Australian wheat exporter allegedly spent $220m bribing officials from Saddam Hussein's Iraqi government to secure $2.3bn of wheat contracts under the United Nations oil-for-food program. As well, the suit says the company bribed officials in Yemen and Pakistan and sabotaged the Indonesian market to keep out US grain exports. The class action has been filed against a US subsidiary of AWB on behalf of North American wheat farmers.