Boeing Denies Wrongdoing In Sale Of Aircraft To Bahamasair

TORONTO - The Boeing Co. denied any wrongdoing after court documents filed in Miami raised new contentions of corruption in the sale of five Dash-8 aircraft by de Havilland Inc. of Canada to BahamasAir in 1989.

"We did nothing wrong," said Ron Woodard, president of Boeing Commercial Airplane Group. Boeing owned de Havilland at the time but sold the company to the Ontario provincial government and Montreal-based Bombardier Inc. in 1992.

According to the documents filed by Newfoundland business operator Craig Dobbin, some Boeing senior executives participated in a scheme to bribe Bahamaian government officials.

The executives named include Woodard, who was president of de Havilland at the time, and Nomar Acuna, de Havilland's director of sales for Latin America.

Boeing officials have denied the accusations and filed a motion in Miami to have Dobbin's case dismissed.

"We don't believe the charges have merit," said Paul Binder, a Boeing spokesman.

The Toronto Globe and Mail reported that Dobbin's documents portray a deal riddled with broken promises and covert payments totaling $786,000.

Dobbin, chief executive of CHC Helicopter Corp. of St. John's, Newfoundland, is suing Boeing for $900 million over the deal.

He claims an airplane leasing business he owned, Aviaco International Leasing Inc., was cut out of the transaction and eventually forced out of business, resulting in losses of $300 million.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police officials said they are considering a criminal investigation into the $64 million aircraft sale. A government inquiry in the Bahamas has concluded the transaction was rife with bribery and recommended that two cabinet ministers be prosecuted.

Boeing has said its internal investigation of the deal found no wrongdoing by anyone in the company, and de Havilland spokesman Colin Fisher also rejected Dobbins' claims.

"We have investigated the transactions and we haven't found any evidence of wrongdoing on the part of any de Havilland employee," Fisher said.

The court documents were filed several months ago as part of a series of lawsuits Dobbin has filed but came to light last week after the Mounties announced their investigation.

According to the documents, in 1989, Boeing was competing with several manufacturers, including European-based Fokker Aircraft, to sell five new de Havilland airplanes to BahamasAir, then a government-owned airline.

The suit says BahamasAir's board recommended the government buy Fokker planes after a company representative offered bribes.

"In response to this, Boeing intensified its efforts to persuade BahamasAir to select its aircraft over Fokker's aircraft," say the documents. "Among other things, Boeing promised to pay a bribe to certain officials of BahamasAir and the Bahamian government at the time of delivery of the five new aircraft."

The suit says Duncan Rapier, a Canadian with business ties in the Caribbean country, promised to pay $330,000 to two Bahamian businessmen for each de Havilland plane sold to BahamasAir.

BahamasAir agreed to buy the de Havilland planes on May 11, 1989, after its chairmen were promised bribes by Edward Williams and Frederick Murray, businessmen with ties to the BahamasAir board, the lawsuit alleges.

The suit says once the deal was finalized, Boeing paid Rapier $1.1 million in commissions, of which $786,000 went to Williams and Murphy to pay the bribes. Acuna allegedly received $90,000.

Seattle Times business reporter Polly Lane contributed to this report.