IBM Settles Bribery Charge With $10 Million
Money, money, money / Must be funny / In the rich man's world
IBM has received a slap on the wrist from the U.S. regulators at the Securities and Exchange Commission in the form of a $10 million fine.
The fine addresses the SEC's belief that IBM used bribes in its business dealings in South Korea and China.
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, IBM employees in South Korea paid 16 government officials a total of $207,000 in cash bribes from 1998 to 2003 to secure the sale of mainframes and personal computers. The cash was supposedly stuffed into shopping bags and IBM envelopes and then handed over in secret meetings in parking lots.
IBM is also accused of providing personal vacations for Chinese government officials from 2004 to early 2009. IBM employees in China supposedly created a slush fund at travel agencies to pay for vacation and sightseeing packages.
The $10 million settlement with the SEC is composed of $5.3 million in disgorged profit, $2.7 million in interest and a penalty of $2 million.
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The SEC heard there was money going around and wanted their cut. Move along now people, there's nothing to see here...
The SEC heard there was money going around and wanted their cut. Move along now people, there's nothing to see here...
So you think fining corporations for bribing officials is just government greed?
Bribe is a criminal offence that reduces government and corporate efficiency more than anything. It deserves a heavy punishment, and forcing a company to pay up is a pretty damn good punishment.
The only thing that's worrying is the very low sum. $10 is spare change for a company like IBM. They should at least have multiplied that sum by 10.
$10 is spare change for a company like IBM. They should at least have multiplied that sum by 10.
Good job its 10 million and not 10 dollars then
whats the difference between paying the chinese or paying the americans ? ... except u have to pay the americans 5x as much ? 2 wrongs dont make a right. Two bribes dont make fair competition and tbh if the americans can fine them then why not every country in the world ? surely if chinese people were being bribed it should be the chinese who impose fines .... what a load of rubbish