A British High Court has ordered MacMillan to pay more than £11m ($18 million) “for unlawful conduct by its Education Division in Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia,” as the result of a 16-month inquiry by the Serious Fraud Office, according to a report in The Independent. It notes that the fine is “the largest fine recovered so far under civil recovery.”

According to the report, “Potential wrongdoing by Macmillan’s education arm first surfaced when the World Bank reported the attempted bribery of officials overseeing a tender for educational materials in southern Sudan (a contract Macmillan did not win). The report led to raids by the City of London Police and, in March 2010, the company itself took the case to the SFO.”

A Wall Street Journal report notes that the Serious Fraud Office found it was “plain that the company may have received revenue that had been derived from unlawful conduct,” although it acknowledged MacMillan cooperated with the investigation.

In a statement, Macmillan CEO Annette Thomas says, “We will not tolerate any form of potentially unlawful behavior Fortunately, it has been established that these issues were confined to a limited part of our education business in East and West Africa. The company deeply regrets what has passed, but has learned from the experience and has emerged stronger as an organization.”