Details were revealed at the opening of a trial at Southwark Crown Court last week which is expected to last until mid-February.

The Keltbray managers were “bribed” by Arben Hysa, the owner of specialist demolition contractor Tony Demolition Workers (TDW) to ensure his workers were used on various projects, Paul Ozin, prosecuting, told jurors.

Projects included the renovation of Battersea Power Station and the court was told that Keltbray paid TDW more than £15m over a ten-year period for contracts to supply workers on various projects.

Legal news specialist MLex reported that Ozin told the court: “These were bribes, paid to influence the site managers in their involvement in the process of choosing and keeping workers, so that TDW workers would be chosen and kept in preference to the workers of other agencies.

“You should not be making secret payments of large sums of money to the employees of the company they supply.”

Hysa faces two charges under the Bribery Act 2010 over allegations that he paid Michael McCarthy, a site manager at the Keltbray Group in Thurrock, £275,000 to favour TDW workers between December 2012 and June 2018. McCarthy is charged with two counts of accepting bribes.

Hysa is also charged with two counts of paying Simon Lacey, a Keltbray site manager at the Battersea Power Station project, £91,000 between January 2015 and June 2018 to favour TDW workers. Lacey faces two charges of accepting bribes.

Hysa is further charged with two counts of paying a third Keltbray site manager, John Burke, £219,000 to secure TDW workers. Burke is charged with two counts of accepting bribes.

In addition, Catherine Williams, a lawyer, faces one charge of money laundering over allegations that she received money linked to the alleged corruption into her bank account on behalf of Burke, her partner.

All of those charged deny the charges against them.

Ozin added: “This is all about the paying of money. There is no dispute that Hysa paid the sums [to the men]. The essential question … is whether those sums of money were paid and received for the criminal offence of bribery.”

McCarthy, Lacey and Burke had provided “absurd” explanations for receiving the money, Ozin said, while Williams had told police that she knew the money she received amounted to “kickbacks.”

A Keltbray statement said: “Keltbray is aware of the public reporting for the ongoing legal proceedings at Southwark Crown Court involving Tony Demolition, a former subcontractor of Keltbray Ltd.

“While the case is before the court, it would be inappropriate for us to comment on the specifics of the proceedings, except to state that Keltbray Group, as the victim of the alleged offences, fully supports and endorses the prosecution. The employees involved were dismissed in 2018 when the details of the offences emerged.”

The trial continues.