<\/p>\n
The misconduct occurred under the Mozambique Land Administration Project, known as Terra Segura, where African Consulting Surveyors (ACS) secured two contracts as part of a joint venture.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Terra Segura was designed to strengthen land tenure security, improve land administration services and support emergency responses to the armed insurgency in northern Mozambique.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
According to the World Bank, ACS submitted a document signed by Timmerman falsely certifying that the company had not paid, and would not pay, commissions, gratuities or fees connected to securing or implementing the contracts.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
However, ACS paid undisclosed business development consultants in connection with the contracts.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The World Bank also found that the company obtained confidential procurement information from third-party facilitators before the tender process was completed.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The information included draft bidding documents, which ACS used to influence the contracts\u2019 technical specifications and secure an improper competitive advantage.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The World Bank classified the conduct as fraudulent and collusive under the institution\u2019s sanctions framework.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
ACS and Timmerman admitted responsibility for the misconduct under a settlement agreement with the World Bank.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The debarments prevent both parties from participating in projects and operations financed by World Bank Group institutions during the sanction period.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The 29-month period was reduced because ACS and Timmerman cooperated with the investigation, voluntarily refrained from participating in World Bank-financed projects during settlement negotiations and took corrective action.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Release from the sanctions will be conditional on both parties developing and implementing integrity compliance measures aligned with the World Bank Group\u2019s guidelines.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
ACS and Timmerman must also complete corporate ethics training and continue cooperating with the World Bank Group\u2019s Integrity Vice Presidency.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The sanctions could extend beyond World Bank-financed projects.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The debarments qualify for enforcement by other multilateral development banks under an agreement signed in 2010. Participating institutions include the African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Inter-American Development Bank.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The cross-debarment framework allows participating development banks to recognise sanctions imposed by other signatories, strengthening coordinated action against fraud and corruption in development projects.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–WorldBank\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":41754,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-45280","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"The World Bank Group has barred African Consulting Surveyors and Managing Director Willem Jan Timmerman from Bank-financed projects for 29 months following fraudulent and collusive practices in Mozambique.","published_date":"","news_description":"The World Bank Group has barred African Consulting Surveyors and Managing Director Willem Jan Timmerman from Bank-financed projects for 29 months following fraudulent and collusive practices in Mozambique.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/45280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/45280\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45281,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/45280\/revisions\/45281"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=45280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}