Daimler allegedly paid hundreds of bribes in multiple countries
to secure government contracts
to secure government contracts
German automaker Daimler will pay some 180 million dollars in fines to settle a longstanding US investigation into allegations of foreign bribery, a source close to the case told AFP Tuesday.
The settlement will end investigations by both criminal prosecutors and securities regulators into charges that the company paid millions of dollars in bribes to officials in 22 countries including China and Indonesia, said the source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Spokesmen for Daimler and the US Justice Department declined to comment on the case.
A criminal complaint filed in Washington accuses Daimler of engaging in a "longstanding practice of paying bribes" to foreign officials through a variety of mechanisms.
It alleges that Daimler made "hundreds of improper payments worth tens of millions of dollars to foreign officials in at least 22 countries" in order to secure contracts with government customers.
The complaint alleges that the bribes went to officials in: China, Croatia, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Latvia, Nigeria, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and other countries.
