Hewlett-Packard has agreed to pay $108 million to resolve an in-depth U.S. government investigation into whether its foreign branches bribed government officials to obtain lucrative deals.
The Russian, Polish, and Mexican subsidiaries have pleaded guilty in paying millions of dollars in bribes to win contracts with key federal officers, and multiple executives have been charged. Allegedly, the bribes included goods such as expensive watches and cutting edge technology to do business with officials.
“Hewlett-Packard subsidiaries created a slush fund for bribe payments … employed two sets of books to track bribe recipients, and used anonymous email accounts and prepaid mobile telephones to arrange covert meetings to hand over bags of cash,” Deputy Assistant Attorney General Bruce Swartz said in announcing the settlement.
Both the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission charged the company with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a law that forbids U.S firms from paying bribes to foriegn government officials
Now, the SEC has entered into a settlement over the allegations that its subsidiaries made corrupt payments to government officials.
In a statement, HP executive vice president and general counsel John Schultz said HP fully cooperated with the investigation.
“The misconduct described in the settlement was limited to a small number of people who are no longer employed by the company,” Schultz said.
Folks, if this isn’t the most ironic thing I’ve ever read, then I’m a cat, and I know I am not a cat. The full details of this hilariously ironic case are in the Reuters link below.
Source: Reuters
HP Pays U.S Government $108 Million to End Corruption and Bribery Investigation
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