A TOP Royal household official is to stand trial accused of accepting bribes of more than £100,000 to give companies contracts for work on royal palaces.
Ronald Harper, 62, pleaded not guilty to four charges of conspiracy to make corrupt payments when he appeared at Southwark Crown Court in London yesterday alongside eight other men and a woman.
Mr Harper, of Sunbury in Suffolk, worked as deputy property manager at the Royal Household from 1994 until he was suspended in 2012.
He is accused of accepting payments or gifts from the directors of four companies, who were then given large contracts for maintenance of the historic buildings paid for by the then Civil List, now called the Sovereign Grant.
The court heard the trial will start in May 2016.
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