Those arrested no longer work for the companies. The arrests and charges mark a major milestone in Australia's biggest bribery scandal and are the first time foreign bribery laws have been used in the nation's history. A federal police statement released this morning said: "The AFP will allege that during the period 1999-2005, senior managers from Securency and NPA utilised international sales agents to bribe foreign public officials in order to secure banknote contracts." The decision to charge not only individuals but both companies with corruption offences is a huge blow to the Reserve Bank and will damage Australia's reputation. The six men appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court today and were bailed on their own undertaking.

They face up to 10 years' jail each over allegations they had various roles in a scheme involving the payment of multimillion dollar kickbacks to high-ranking officials in Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia. One of the men allegedly bribed in Vietnam is the country's now former central bank governor, Le Duc Thuy, who is currently a leading communist party official. The federal government is believed to be deeply concerned by the scandal, given its potential to damage the nation's international relations and erode confidence in the pillar of Australia's financial system, the RBA. The criminal charges relate to bribes allegedly paid between 1999 and 2005, although the AFP is still investigating multimillion dollar kickbacks allegedly paid between 2005 and 2010. Note Printing Australia's board of directors during the period covered by today's charges were all serving and former senior RBA officials, including former RBA deputy governor Graeme Thompson.

Mr Thompson was also chairman of Securency at the time of the alleged bribery, sitting on the polymer banknote maker's board with three other RBA appointees. A company can be convicted of bribery if it is proven that its "mind and will" was directed towards the alleged criminal conduct. If the Reserve Bank companies are convicted, it will raise serious questions about whether the RBA appointees on their boards failed in their corporate duties to properly oversee them. It will also raise questions about the handling of the affair by RBA Governor Glenn Stevens, who has resisted calls to investigate the two boards' conduct and who late last year said he knew of no evidence that any of the RBA appointees on their boards had done anything wrong. The AFP's international investigation, which includes a taskforce from Britain's Serious Fraud Office, is continuing to investigate alleged bribery in Africa and more arrests are expected. The men charged in Australia, all from Victoria, include: a 55-year-old from Mont Albert; a 66-year-old from Mount Martha; a 50-year-old from Moonee Ponds; a 61-year-old from Beaumaris; a 62-year-old from Somerville; and a 64 year-old man from Yanakie.

They are alleged to have played a role in a bribery scheme that involved millions of dollars in illegal kickbacks paid by the RBA firms to senior foreign politicians and officials across Asia. The charges against the individuals, contrary to sections 11.5(1) and 70.2(1) of the Criminal Code Act 1995, carry a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment and/or a fine of $1.1 million. The charges against the companies carry a maximum fine of $330,000 per offence. The charges are a result of former senior managers within the companies who, allegedly at that time, represented the “mind and will” of the companies. It will also be alleged that money paid in bribes originated from the companies and that the companies therefore received a resulting benefit in the form of banknote contracts. Curtis has been charged with three counts of conspiracy to bribe, while Leckenby and Anderson have both been charged on two counts of the same offence.

Hutchinson and Brady have been charged with one count of conspiracy to bribe and Marchant is charged with abetting bribery. Loading Magistrate Donna Bakos ordered them to return to court in September for a committal mention hearing. - with AAP