The forensic foundation of the 2025 Deferred Prosecution Agreement breach rests upon a thirteen year timeline of systematic corruption. Our internal audit of the Serious Fraud Office case files regarding Guralp Systems Ltd reveals a rigid pattern of financial extraction and illicit market capture. Between 2002 and 2015 the Reading based seismology manufacturer funneled approximately 1 million USD in illicit payments to a public official in the Republic of Korea. The recipient was Dr Heon Cheol Chi. He served as Director of the Earthquake Research Center at the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources. This entity is known globally as KIGAM. The objective was binary. Secure exclusive contracts. Eliminate competition.

Data verifies that Guralp Systems Ltd captured the South Korean market through these payments. In 2002 the company reported negligible revenues from the region. By 2015 the annual revenue from South Korean contracts surged to 1.45 million GBP. The SFO investigation concluded that gross profits totaling 2.07 million GBP were directly attributable to this bribery scheme. This specific figure forms the disgorgement sum that Guralp Systems Ltd failed to pay by October 2024. That failure triggered the enforcement action currently under review. The mechanics of the offense involved complex layering of international wire transfers to disguise the source and nature of the funds.