The three drugmakers are being investigated over bribes allegedly paid to Saddam Hussein’s deposed Iraqi regime, Agence France-Presse reports. They were asked to hand over documents by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office, which is probing allegations of bribes paid to secure contracts in violation of the oil-for-food program that ran from 1996 to 2003. [UPDATE: The initial report didn't mention Lilly.]

In February, the Serious Fraud Office opened a formal probe into “issues relating to the breaches of the embargo” against Iraq, which could take up to three years. The oil-for-food program allowed Baghdad to sell oil in exchange for humanitarian goods the country lacked due to sanctions imposed after Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait. But the Iraqi government swindled millions of dollars from the scheme, sparking a scandal that caused huge embarrassment to the UN, AFP notes.

A UN report urged by former US Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, which was released in October 2005, accused 2,200 companies from 40 countries of working with Saddam’s regime to bilk the oil-for-food program of $1.8 billion. Citing the report, Glaxo allegedly paid $1 million in kickbacks to win an $11.9 million contract. AstraZeneca allegedly paid $162,000 to win $2.9 million in contracts. And Lilly allegedly paid $343,000 in bribes to win $3.2 million in contracts.

The drugmakers denied any wrongdoing and said they were co-operating fully with the investigation. Glaxo “does not believe that its employees or its agents in Iraq knowingly engaged in wrongdoing regarding the oil-for-food programme,” a spokesman told AFP. “In fact, (Glaxo) went to considerable lengths to co-operate with UK government authorities responsible for the UK administration of the program and to impose anti-corruption measures when dealing with intermediaries in Iraq at a time when the environment was extremely volatile and difficult.”

An AstraZeneca spokeswoman says: “AstraZeneca has received a request from the SFO for documents as part of its review of the oil-for-food programme in Iraq. “The company will be providing the documentation.” A Lilly spokeswoman tells AFP the drugmaker would comply with the demand which was made in mid-December. “We are compiling these documents and they will be sent to the SFO in the new year,” she said.