|
The Financial
Times, citing fine print in the company's 2016 financial
accounts, reported on Monday that Airbus was being investigated
by authorities in Australia for offences such as bribery or
fraud.
The Airbus accounts did indeed say Australia, but a company
spokesman said that was, in fact, a typographical error.
"It should read Austria and not Australia," he said.
In February, Airbus said prosecutors in Vienna had initiated a
formal criminal investigation against Airbus and the Eurofighter
consortium over alleged fraud related to a $2 billion order for
the combat jet more than a decade ago.
The typo in the Airbus accounts is the latest in a series of
mix-ups between the two similarly named but culturally distinct
and geographically distant countries.
Global news network CNN was mocked by Twitter users last year
for reporting Australia was building a fence on its Slovenian
border.
In 2014, then United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
mistakenly offered his gratitude to hosts Australia when he
spoke at a conference in Vienna, according to an Associated
Press report.
The Airbus spokesman was unable say whether his company planned
to file a new set of accounts with regulators, without the
geographical gaffe.
(Reporting by Jamie Freed; Editing by Paul Tait)
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
