22 November 2021
Nigel Gray
By ema
il: [email address]
Dear Mr Gray
Request for information held by the Serious Fraud Office on bribes from Pfizer to Government staff
or ministers
I refer to your request dated 26 October 2021 requesting the fol owing information:
Can you please inform me of any existing, completed or planned investigations into payments
by Pfizer or and subsidiary or associated company to NZ Government staff, ministers or their
respective relatives, personal companies, trusts etc. as bribes, gratuitous payments, rewards,
in short any form of payments in relation to government actions to rol out, promote, coerce
or otherwise enact ANY Pfizer sourced product in New Zealand?
This above question includes any payments from other entities owned or associated with the
corporate shareholders of corporate owners of Pfizer. This above question includes any
product supplied by or though Pfizer to NZ Government or any of its subsidiary trusts,
companies, entities or related connections that would result in any government employee or
employees, government ministers benefiting from in any way.
Please detail which Pfizer product this would be in relation to if such investigations are current,
completed or planned.
We have considered your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (
OIA) and the Serious
Fraud Office Act 1990 (
SFO Act).
The SFO is not currently investigating any “
payments by Pfizer or and subsidiary or associated
company” or “
any payments from other entities owned or associated with the corporate
shareholders of corporate owners of Pfizer” or any benefit received from Pfizer or its associated
companies. Accordingly, the information requested is not held by our office and therefore we refuse
this under s18(g) of the OIA.
However, we also note that the information requested would otherwise be withheld on the basis
that making this type of information available would be likely to prejudice the maintenance of law,
including the prevention, investigation, and detection of offences, and the right to fair trial, pursuant
to s6(c) of the OIA.
You are entitled to make a complaint about our decision to the Office of the Ombudsmen. They can be
contacted at P O Box 10152, Wel ington 6143 or a
t [email address].
Yours sincerely
Kylie Cooper
Deputy General Counsel
