Siemens pays $1.6B in bribery scandal fines Siemens AG has agreed to pay more than $US1.6 billion in fines for allegedly paying bribes to foreign governments to obtain business which earned the company more than $US1.1 billion in profit.
The charges were laid out by the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission), which alleged that Siemens paid bribes on such widespread transactions as the design and construction of metro transit lines in Venezuela, power plants in Israel, and refineries in Mexico.
In addition, Siemens apparently used bribes to obtain business developing mobile phone networks in Bangladesh; national identity cards in Argentina; and medical devices in Vietnam, China, and Russia, according to the SEC's complaint.
The commission further alleged that Siemens paid kickbacks to Iraqi ministries in connection with sales of power stations and equipment to Iraq under the United Nations Oil for Food Program.
The international probe into Siemens business practices began in November 2006 in the company's home country of Germany and quickly spread to the United States and Japan in February 2007.
This was followed by a raid on Siemens' headquarters in Munich, where police reportedly uncovered suspicious payments made mostly through Swiss and Austrian accounts.
Earlier this year, the then Siemens' CEO Klaus Kleinfeld abruptly stepped down from his post as the company as the investigation intensified.
The fines, which Siemens has accepted without admitting guilt, will resolve SEC charges that the manufacturer of industrial and consumer products violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by using bribes to gain business.
In the US, Siemens has agreed to pay $US350 million in disgorgement to settle the SEC's charges, and a $US450 million fine to the US Department of Justice to settle criminal charges.
Siemens also will pay a fine of approximately $US569 million to the Office of the Prosecutor General in Munich, to whom the company previously paid an approximately $US285 million fine in October 2007.
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