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The German car manufacturer Daimler will pay $185million to settle a bribery case after pleading guilty to corruption in a US court.
Daimler had been charged by the US justice department with giving money and gifts to win contracts in countries including China, Russia, Thailand, Vietnam, Greece, and Iraq, and has since admitted paying tens of millions of dollars to government officials in 22 countries.
The offences were committed by Daimler’s German-based exports subsidiary Export and Trade Finance, and its Mercedes-Benz Russia division between 1998 and 2008. The court agreed not to prosecute the company’s Chinese subsidiary, subject to conditions.
The justice department said that Daimler and its subsidiaries ‘saw foreign bribery as a way of doing business’, and had a ‘corporate culture that tolerated and/or encouraged bribery’. The firm allegedly paid at least $56million in bribes in more than 200 transactions spanning the globe.
The company says it has reformed its practices, however, and has agreed to the appointment of an independent monitor to oversee compliance with the settlement deal. It has also fired 45 employees implicated in the bribery.
The prosecutor of the case said that Daimler, which made a $3.5billion loss last year, had ‘showed excellent cooperation’ and has taken steps that ‘reflect a serious change of mind’.
The settlement marks the end of a six-year investigation and one of the largest bribery cases brought by US authorities. It is being seen as part of the US government’s drive to enforce the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Daimler had been charged by the US justice department with giving money and gifts to win contracts in countries including China, Russia, Thailand, Vietnam, Greece, and Iraq, and has since admitted paying tens of millions of dollars to government officials in 22 countries.
The offences were committed by Daimler’s German-based exports subsidiary Export and Trade Finance, and its Mercedes-Benz Russia division between 1998 and 2008. The court agreed not to prosecute the company’s Chinese subsidiary, subject to conditions.
The justice department said that Daimler and its subsidiaries ‘saw foreign bribery as a way of doing business’, and had a ‘corporate culture that tolerated and/or encouraged bribery’. The firm allegedly paid at least $56million in bribes in more than 200 transactions spanning the globe.
The company says it has reformed its practices, however, and has agreed to the appointment of an independent monitor to oversee compliance with the settlement deal. It has also fired 45 employees implicated in the bribery.
The prosecutor of the case said that Daimler, which made a $3.5billion loss last year, had ‘showed excellent cooperation’ and has taken steps that ‘reflect a serious change of mind’.
The settlement marks the end of a six-year investigation and one of the largest bribery cases brought by US authorities. It is being seen as part of the US government’s drive to enforce the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
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