The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has quietly charged an Australian company with bribery over its conduct on the tiny Pacific nation of Nauru a decade ago.
The AFP did not announce it at the time, but in February last year it charged Gold Coast-based Getax Australia with one count of conspiracy to bribe a foreign public official.
A committal hearing was due to be held in the Southport Magistrates Court this week but the case was deferred to a later date.
Getax is yet to enter a plea.
The ABC's attempts to reach Getax for comment were unsuccessful.
The charge comes after a long-running AFP investigation into allegations Getax bribed Nauruan politicians to further its phosphate export business.
At the time, the allegations outraged the Nauru government.
The ABC approached the current government of President Lionel Aingimea for comment on the charge against Getax but there has been no response so far.
Meanwhile Serena Lillywhite, CEO of corruption watchdog Transparency International Australia, said it was rare for the AFP to lay bribery charges.
"While international cooperation is improving, there remains significant obstacles in tackling foreign bribery across borders, and that includes insufficient and incompatible laws and limited resources."
The action against Getax is not the first time the AFP has laid a bribery charge in relation to Australian business activity in Nauru.
In 2018 Sydney businessman Mozammil Bhojani was charged after paying Nauruan officials more than $100,000 in kickbacks in exchange for favourable phosphate shipments.
He pleaded guilty and last year and was sentenced to two and a half years in jail.
