WASHINGTON, April 1 (Reuters) - Following are major cases the U.S. government brought against companies accusing them of violating American anti-bribery statutes that bar payment of money, goods or services to foreign officials in return for contracts.
Many companies reached settled with the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission, with a handful also pleading guilty to related charges.
Siemens AG <SIEGn.DE>: The German engineering conglomerate and three of its units agreed in December 2008 to plead guilty to bribery charges and pay a record $1.3 billion to settle investigations by the United States and Germany. U.S. authorities accused the company of making almost $1.8 billion in improper payments to government officials and third parties from March 2001 through 2007, involving employees at all levels. Siemens also agreed to have an independent monitor for up to four years, as well as cooperate with the continuing U.S. investigation.
Daimler AG <DAIGn.DE>: The German luxury car and truck manufacturer agreed to settle U.S. criminal and civil charges it and three of its units engaged in a "long-standing practice of paying bribes," including showering government officials with money and luxury automobiles. The parent company will pay $185 million to settle the charges by the Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission. Its Russian and German units each pleaded guilty to two counts of violating U.S. anti-bribery laws, while the parent company and the China unit entered into deferred prosecution agreements with the Justice Department.
BAE Systems Plc <BAES.L>: Europe's biggest military contractor agreed in February to pay about $450 million to the United States and Britain to settle allegations related to questionable payments related to various deals in Saudi Arabia, the Czech Republic and Hungary. As part of the settlement agreement, the company pleaded guilty in U.S. court to conspiring to make false statements related to some of its contracts. The Justice Department accused the company of violating commitments it made to the U.S. government in 2000 to comply with the anti-bribery provisions of U.S. law.
KBR Inc <KBR.N>: The former engineering subsidiary of Halliburton Co pleaded guilty to U.S. charges it paid $180 million in bribes to Nigerian officials to win $6 billion in contracts. The company admitted in February 2009 the payments had been made between 1994 and 2004 to win deals for a KBR joint venture to build and expand Nigeria's Bonny Island liquefied natural gas terminal. The company agreed to pay $579 million, including a $402 million fine, of which Halliburton has was to pay $382 million, and disgorging $177 million in profits to settle parallel charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Innospec Inc <IOSP.O>: Specialty chemical company agreed in March 2009 to pay $40.2 million to settle allegations it paid millions of dollars in bribes to Iraqi and Indonesian government officials to maintain contracts. Innospec was accused of paying kickbacks to the former Iraqi government under the U.N. Oil for Food Program and paying bribes to officials in the Iraqi oil ministry. It was also accused of violating the U.S. embargo against Cuba. (Reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky; editing by Andre Grenon)
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