The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged two global tobacco companies with violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for paying more than $5 million in bribes to government officials in Thailand and other countries to illicitly obtain tobacco sales contracts.
The SEC alleges that Richmond, Va.-based Universal Corporation Inc. and two competitors who have since merged to form Alliance One International Inc. engaged in a coordinated bribery scheme in Thailand. Universal paid approximately $800,000 in bribes to officials with the government-owned Thailand Tobacco Monopoly (TTM) in exchange for securing approximately $11.5 million worth of tobacco sales contracts for its subsidiaries in Brazil and Europe. The companies that became Alliance One – Dimon Inc. and Standard Commercial Corporation – paid more than $1.2 million in bribes to TTM officials to obtain more than $18.3 million in sales contracts.
The SEC further alleges that Dimon and Standard (now Alliance One) made improper payments in China, Greece, Indonesia, and Kyrgyzstan while failing to properly record the true nature of the payments in its accounting records. Universal made improper payments in Malawi and Mozambique and failed to properly record them in their books and records.
via US SEC: SEC Charges Two Global Tobacco Companies With Bribery | TradingMarkets.com.
