Sex video twist in GSK China bribery scandal

Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) on Sunday confirmed the existence an intimate video recording of its former China head Mark Reilly.

The sex tape reportedly kicked off a bribery investigation in China that has damaged the drugmaker’s business in the country.

The sex tape which showed footage of Reilly having sex with his Chinese girlfriend at his apartment in Shanghai was sent to senior executives of GSK in an email in March 2013, according a report by The Telegraph.

The Sunday Times in UK said the recording was shot without Reilly’s knowledge or consent. It was not clear who shot the video or with what motivation.

The company is said to have approved Reilly's initial £20,000 expenditure on a private investigator to find out who was behind the hidden camera. The private investigator failed to find out who was set up the hidden camera, but his investigations triggered Chinese authorities to launch a probe into GSK. 

A GSK spokesman confirmed the tape existed but did not comment on how it related to the alleged bribery scandal in which Chinese police have accused Britain’s biggest drugmaker of transferring as much as 3 billion yuan (S$602.2 million) through travel agencies to bribe doctors and officials.

Reilly, who last month was charged with corruption, was not available for comment.

GSK, which described the bribery allegations as “shameful” when they came to light last year, said on Sunday that it was continuing to cooperate fully with the Chinese authorities on the ongoing investigation.

“The issues relating to our China business are very difficult and complicated,” it added in a statement.

- Reuters, The Telegraph