Alstom agrees to pay US$772 million to US for bribing foreign officials
French power company, which has agreed to pay US$722m fine, tried to buy influence in Taiwan, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the Bahamas
Alstom, a French power company hit with a record US fine for corruption, won billions of dollars worth of business in Saudi Arabia by making at least US$49 million in illegal payments in part through middlemen the company called "Mr Paris" and "Quiet Man".
The bribes were among those Alstom made in five countries over more than 10 years, prosecutors in Washington said. Alstom pleaded guilty to those charges on Monday and agreed to pay US$772 million to end the investigation, representing the largest criminal penalty paid to the Justice Department under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
The prosecutors' statements, laid out in charging documents contained new details about Alstom's attempts to buy influence in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan and the Bahamas.
The documents also covered bribery in Indonesia, which had already served as a basis of criminal charges against former Alstom executives and business partner in court in Connecticut.
The US corruption case is one of several against Alstom, which General Electric is buying in its biggest acquisition ever. GE agreed in June to buy most of Alstom's assets for €12.4 billion (HK$117.64 billion) and the purchase should close next year.
Earlier on Monday, Alstom's London-based power unit and two of its employees were charged by Britain's Serious Fraud Office for alleged bribe payments made in Lithuania. Lawyers for the men declined to comment at the hearing. Alstom is also facing a corruption investigation in Brazil.