BAE Systems Admits Guilt in U.K. Accounting Case, Faces December Hearing

BAE Systems Plc, Europe’s biggest defense company, said it failed to keep proper accounting records of payments in a case that tests U.K. fraud prosecutors’ ability to negotiate plea deals.

BAE lawyer David Perry said today at a hearing at a Magistrates Court in London that the company will enter a guilty plea at a higher court next month. The company has entered into a plea deal, Louis Mably, a lawyer for the Serious Fraud Office, which is prosecuting the case, told the judge.

BAE is charged with knowingly not keeping proper records that explain payments that relate to two contracts, according to the indictment.

District Judge Caroline Tubbs said sentencing should be approved by a higher court. She sent the case to Southwark Crown Court. The next hearing will take place on Dec. 20.

To contact the reporter for this story: Lindsay Fortado in London at lfortado@bloomberg.net. James Lumley in London at jlumley1@bloomberg.net

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