A RICS disciplinary panel weighs in with six-figure fine

Surveyors’ professional body the RICS has now weighed in with a fine for Sweett over a Middle East bribery offence from 2013, which has already cost the consultant £2.3m in court.

The consultant admitted to investors late on Friday that the RICS’ disciplinary panel had fined it a further £125,000 over the offence, after the panel judged the firm “did not at all times act with integrity and/or avoid any actions or situations that were inconsistent with its professional obligations”. Sweett is considering whether to appeal.

Sweett had already been ordered to pay a £2.3m fine by the courts in February, after being successfully prosecuted by the Serious Fraud Office. The offence related to the firm failing to prevent an act of bribery on a 2013 contract in the Middle East.

Sweett is set to be taken over by Middle East-owned Currie & Brown next month, after the firm agreed a £29m takeover earlier this year.

The Sweett brand will disappear within two months of the deal closing, as Building revealed this month.

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