Accountancy group KPMG has reached a €7m out of court settlement with the public prosecution department over its role in a construction sector bribery scandal.

The investigation into three former KPMG accountants is continuing, the public prosecution department said in a statement.

KPMG was accused of disguising bribes paid on behalf of building group Ballast Nedam to win orders. The company also failed to pay proper attention to ensuring integrity demands were met, the public prosecutor said.

The bribery scandal dates from 2000 to 2003 and concerns hundreds of millions of euros in bribes paid to win contracts in the Middle East. Ballast Nedam itself settled with the public prosecutor last year.

KPMG Nederland chairman Jurgen van Breukelen said in a statement: ‘We are shocked by the facts as they have unfolded in this case during the recent past and find these completely unacceptable.’