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Hp Employees Indicted in Germany With Criminal Bribery
Germany Says HP Paid Kickbacks To Get Russian Contract
Hewlett-Packard has been charged with criminal bribery by German prosecutors in a case that alleges one current and two former employees paid abou $10 million in kickbacks in order to with a 35 million Euro contract to sell computer equipment to Russia’s Prosecutor General Office, the Wall Street Journal reports.Naughty, naughty.
The indictment was filed August 30 but was not previously disclosed, the Journal notes, pointing out that HP could face fines and other penalties if the court finds the company benefited from the alleged crime. Following a three-year investigation, the German prosecutors assert that three HP VPs approved creation of a fund which was used to route cash to Russia through a network of shell companies.HP told the Journal that the charges involved events that happened nearly 10 years ago by a former HP unit and that the company was only named as a “side participant” in the proceedings, was not indicted and was cooperating with the prosecutors. But the Journal notes that under German law only people can be charged with bribery, and not companies, although they can still be penalized for their activities as side participants.
The Journal notes that HP had previously disclosed that the Justice Department and the SEC already had been investigating allegations that the company paid bribes to officials in Russian and other countries.
Charged with bribery, tax evasion and embezzlement were Hilmar Lorenz, a German and former H-P marketing executive in Russia; Ken Willett, a Germany-based American H-P manager; and Päivi Tiippana, a Finn and former manager at the company. The Journal notes that prosecutors also indicted Ralf Krippner, a German politician and businessman, as an accessory for helping to relay the funds.
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-09-20/news/33977091_1_hp-employees-35-million-euro-contract-german-firm
Hewlett Packard employees indicted in German graft probe
NEW YORK: Current and former Hewlett Packard employees have been indicted in Germany as part of a nearly three-year probe into bribes paid for a multimillion-euro Russian contract, the US firm said."The German Public Prosecutors Office has issued an indictment against a small number of individuals, including one current and some former HP employees," a company spokesman said Wednesday.
"HP itself is free of any charges," he said, adding that the company has been named as a "side participant" in the proceedings.
The naming of HP could expose the company to fines and other penalties if the court finds that the firm benefited from a crime, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported on the indictments.
The investigation concerns some eight million euros ($10 million) in kickbacks paid from 2001 to 2006 to secure a 35-million-euro contract to provide equipment to the Russian Prosecutor General’s office, through a German firm.Germany and Russia launched the investigation in 2010. HP said it was "fully cooperating" with authorities.
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