ATM maker Diebold to pay US$50m in fines over bribery allegations
The SEC alleges that Diebold bribed bank officials in China, Indonesia and Russia
Diebold, which makes automated teller machines, has agreed to pay almost US$50 million in fines to the US government for breaches of anti-corruption laws in China, Indonesia and Russia, regulators say.
The Securities and Exchange Commission said Diebold spent US$1.6 million to bribe officials of state-owned banks in China and gave more than US$147,000 in kickbacks to officials at state-owned banks in Indonesia between 2005 and 2010.
The bank officials in China and Indonesia were given free trips to the US and Europe, which were falsely recorded as training expenses, the SEC alleged.
Diebold's subsidiary in China also provided dozens of bank officials with annual cash gifts from less than US$100 to more than US$600, said the SEC, which - with the Department of Justice - announced the fines as violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), on its website.
"A bribe is a bribe, whether it's a stack of cash or an all-expense-paid trip to Europe," said Scott Friestad, an associate director in the SEC's enforcement division.
The SEC said that from 2005 to 2008, Diebold's Russian subsidiary paid US$1.2 million in bribes to promote the sale of ATMs to private banks in Russia.