

The long arm of American law reached out and grabbed two senior executives of the United Kingdom's largest defense firm. BAE Systems, which has a North American subsidiary and does extensive business in the United States, is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, which is looking at allegations that the company paid bribes to Saudi officials in exchange for defense contracts. As part of the investigation, U.S. authorities briefly detained two of the company's top leaders as they arrived at a U.S. airport. "BAE Systems confirmed Monday that chief executive Mike Turner (right) and non-executive director Nigel Rudd were briefly detained by U.S. officials when they landed in the United States on business last week," the AP reports. "The pair were spoken to when they arrived at Houston airport, before they were allowed to enter the United States. Turner has since returned to Britain while Rudd is on vacation at an undisclosed location, the company said."

The aerospace and defense company is accused of running a slush fund to secure lucrative defense deals with Saudi Arabia; the U.K. government quashed the investigation after the Saudi government threatened to end a lucrative defense deal. The U.S. Justice Department can claim jurisdiction if those funds went through the U.S. banking system. BAE Systems denies the charges.

[Photo: Employers for Apprentices]