November 26, 2007 (LPAC)--Swiss authorities will allow the U.S. Department of Justice to gain access to the dossier on its own investigation into the BEA-Saudi corruption cases. These files are crucial for the investigation and, according to a report in today's Guardian, would provide sufficient evidence for issuing indictments.

The Swiss investigation into BAE is said to center around a network of companies set up in Geneva for transferring secret payments to the Saudis, reportedly totaling over 1 billion pounds. When Robert Wardle, the head of the British Serious Fraud office requested access to the Swiss dossier, the British government of Prime Minister Tony Blair closed down Wardle's investigation citing national security interests. The Guardian now reports a U.S. source close to the Department of Justice having said last week: "The investigators are confident they can get what they need from Switzerland. That's where all the BAE arrangements were made."

The British government is still refusing the official request made by the U.S. DoJ 6 months ago for mutual judicial assistance including access to more than a million pages of documents seized from BAE, its bankers, Lloyds TSB, and the Ministry of Defense during the SFO's own investigation.

The Guardian also reports that businessman Peter Gardiner, allegedly the bag man for transferring the payments is cooperating with the DoJ, while the latter is also seeking out the location of other potential witnesses from the UK.