The private investigator held by Chinese police in connection with the GlaxoSmithKline bribery allegations said they were “credible” claims and that he felt cheated by the FTSE 100 drugs giant.
Peter Humphrey, who faces a secret trial in China next month, alleges in an email from his prison cell that GSK’s sales teams targeted influential doctors with lavish gifts and cash to win business.
The email also alleges that some doctors were sent on expenses-paid holidays masquerading as conferences.
Humphrey was hired by GSK to investigate a former employee suspected of running a smear campaign against the company.
This included emails to executives and a secret sex tape of GSK’s top man in China, Mark Reilly, with his Chinese girlfriend.
Humphrey claims GSK had assured him that the bribery allegations were not true but says his subsequent investigations suggested they were credible.
“I realised that we had been cheated because the allegations looked real to us,” he said in the email reported by the Financial Times.
Glaxo said the bribery allegations had been fully investigated. It said: “Some fraudulent behaviour relating to expense claims was identified, and this resulted in employee dismissals… However, this investigation did not find evidence to substantiate the specific allegations made in the emails.”
