Foreign Corrupt Practices Act nabs Daimler

  • 2010-04-08
  • From wire reports

RIGA - The German company Daimler, maker of one of Latvian driver’s most popular cars, escaped criminal charges in a longstanding U.S. probe into the automaker’s habitual practice of bribing foreign officials, reports news agency AFP. Daimler admitted to making hundreds of improper payments worth tens of millions of dollars to foreign government officials in at least 22 countries between 1998 and 2008, according to a deferred prosecution agreement filed in a Washington court on March 24.

The kickbacks of cash, and gifts of luxury armored cars, golf clubs and vacations helped secure government contracts worth millions of dollars in China, Russia, Thailand, Greece, Iraq and other countries, including Latvia, say prosecutors.
Viktors Troicins, director of Latvia’s Daimler dealer Domenikss, said that his company was in no way connected with the payment of bribes by Daimler. Troicins indicated that the competitions won by Domenikss were down to honest and accountable business practices, quality products, and attractive prices and service conditions.
The Domenikss director added that his company was only one of a number of companies to have represented Daimler in Latvia between 1998 and 2008.

The German company pleaded guilty to charges of bribery and agreed to pay 185 million dollars to settle with the U.S. government.
Prosecutors noted that Daimler has mended its ways and has cooperated fully with the investigation. The German giant will also pay a 91.4 million dollar fine to settle an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.”Daimler regularly presented its findings to prosecutors, fired 45 employees implicated in the bribery and reformed its practices, prosecutors wrote.

The bribes included more than 3.0 million euros to Russian government officials in order to secure 64.6 million euros in sales; 4.1 million euros in ‘commissions,’ ‘gifts’ and lavish vacations to Chinese government officials; a ‘birthday gift’ of a 300,000 dollar armored Mercedes Benz S-class car to an official in Turkmenistan; kickbacks to Iraqi officials and an agreement not to seek compensation for damages incurred during the first Gulf War in order to secure sales of trucks used for humanitarian purposes through the UN’s Oil for Food program; golf clubs, wedding gifts and other perks totaling about 41,000 dollars to win contracts in Indonesia.