Former CommBank IT exec charged with bribery

Former Commonwealth Bank head of IT operations Keith Hunter has been arrested and charged with bribery offences as a result of a joint investigation between police from the NSW force and the US FBI.

The 61 year old former IT executive was arrested at a residence in Surry Hills yesterday and charged with two counts of bribery. 

His arrest follows an investigation into almost $2 million in corrupt payments allegedly made to two of the bank's former staff.

NSW Police will allege that Hunter along with another former IT executive - both US nationals - were involved in a corrupt relationship with the ServiceMesh subsidiary of US technology provider CSC.

The state police says it was contacted by the bank earlier this year after CBA discovered allegedly suspicious payments had been deposited into the bank accounts of the two former IT senior staff.

Hunter and the other IT manager awarded ServiceMesh a "lucrative contract without putting it to public tender", police allege.

They then received payments from the company in return, police say.

Since setting up Strike Force Drawl to investigate the alleged bribery, police have frozen almost $2 million in suspected corrupt payments.

Hunter was arrested yesterday and refused bail. He will appear in Central Local Court today, according to police. 

Hunter served as the bank's head of IT delivery services for three years until last December, when he stepped down for "personal reasons".

He joined CommBank in 2011 as its executive general manager of infrastructure and operations, following a previous long-term stint at Visa which culminated in a role as its global head of operations.

NSW Police said they would like to speak to the second former IT manager - understood to be former general manager of IT engineering Jon Waldron - who is currently overseas.

The state police force has asked the US FBI to assist with the investigation.

A CBA spokesperson said the bank had reported the matter to police and would "continue to fully cooperate while the investigation continues". 

"We have no tolerance for any illegal activity by any employee and we take every situation seriously," the spokesperson said.

"It is not appropriate to further comment while this matter is before the court."