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Hewlett-Packard Pleads Guilty To Bribing Officials in Russia, Poland, and Mexico
Charliemopps writes Hewlett-Packard and three subsidiaries pleaded guilty Thursday to paying bribes to foreign officials in Russia, Mexico and Poland and agreed to pay $108 million in criminal and regulatory penalties. For over 10 years Hewlett-Packard kept 2 sets of books to track slush-funds they used to bribe government officials for favorable contracts.
From the article:
According to the Justice Department, HP Poland paid more than $600,000 in cash bribes and gifts, travel and entertainment to the the police agency's director of information and communications technology. HP Poland gave the government official bags filled with hundreds of thousands of dollars of cash, provided the official with HP desktop and laptop computers, mobile devices and other products and took the official on a leisure trip to Las Vegas, which included a private tour flight over the Grand Canyon, the Justice Department said.
The foreign officials probably weren't reporting the income on their taxes, either.
Where will the money come from? Somehow I don't think it'll be execs who are "rightsized".
Where's the prison terms? Where's the personal liability for CxOs? No, they are likely not directly accountable for the actions of every single individual employee, but they are responsible for the actions of the company in general. When the company does something illegal, the boss should pay the penalty; it's the only way to justify the ludicrous money they make.
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What "Time"? These are Corporate Executives. When they break the law their company pays cash. Jail is the legal system for people who dont have enough money to pay Government Fines.
Common Sense isn't as Common as people think...
So they admitted to doing business in Poland, Russia and Mexico. Big deal.
Those who do not learn from commit history are doomed to regress it.
What "Time"? These are Corporate Executives. When they break the law their company pays cash. Jail is the legal system for people who dont have enough money to pay Government Fines.
Sooo.... They will pay a bribe to settle charges of bribery?
Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
When you start down the road of bribery and corruption, just know that you can never get off it.
SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
I cannot imagine either of those two approving of such business practices.
Hmm, 10 years ago, so that means 2004. That means during Carly Fiorina's reign, then Mark Hurd, then Leo Apotheker, then Meg Whitman.
I guess bribery and corruption must be good for shareholder value? Hey, bribery is just part of unfettered capitalism, isn't it?
This is different from lobbyists giving "campaign contributions" how?
The same thing happens everywhere, it's just a matter of the form it takes.
At this point, I assume all politicians and all corporations are corrupt.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
What many in the U.S. don't realize is that what we call bribery is SOP in some countries. Not that it makes it right, or legal, but it may be the only way for a company to do business there. I've witnessed this first hand in a couple places, with local government officials who would just not process paperwork unless you "tip" them.
Just another day in Paradise
Government isn't even government in this scenario. What are we supposed to believe, they didn't bribe any US officials? Bullshit. The US officials that they bribed, probably just figured out that they also bribed other governments and maybe they paid those officials more than they did the US officials, and now the US officials just want their cut. Dunno. Hard to tell what these mobsters are doing behind closed doors, but at this point I think it's safe to assume that it's all a matter of moving money. It's not like they'll use that money to better regulate HP on any level.
Politics; n. : A religion whereby man is god.
Who do they think they are? Bernie Ecclestone?
Music is everybody's possession.
It's only publishers who think that people own it.
Fuck Beta
~John Lenno
Yep, they should call this The Ecclestone Maneuver.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
I'm sure HP does business in the UK, therefore they can be prosecuted under this regardless of where the crimes took place.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bribery_Act_2010
"The penalties for committing a crime under the Act are a maximum of 10 years' imprisonment, along with an unlimited fine, and the potential for the confiscation of property under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, as well as the disqualification of directors under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986. The Act has a near-universal jurisdiction, allowing for the prosecution of an individual or company with links to the United Kingdom, regardless of where the crime occurred. Described as "the toughest anti-corruption legislation in the world",[1] concerns have been raised that the Act's provisions criminalise behaviour that is acceptable in the global market, and puts British business at a competitive disadvantage."
Apparently none of you have ever tried to do business is Russia, Mexico or Poland. The politicians are corrupt ones. Business just does whatever it can to be free to sell product. And in many countries...this is the result. I consider this a story about Russia and Mexico. Not of HP.
We should learn what we need to know about issues, before we decide what we need to feel about them.
for western companies operating in Russia is to hire "logistics consultants" among locals who do all the actual bribing. It provides a degree of separation - a plausible deniability.
What are 'official bags'? Are those the ones with a big dollar sign on the side?
When someone says, "Any fool can see
We don't pay any of these at all and we do business in 160 countries.
Bribery (including 'campaign donations' in the USA) is a risky tactic. Immediately, you get easier access to do whatever it was you were trying to do. However, it leads to a list of no-win situations that are likely to follow depending on factors completely outside your control, a few examples.
1) The bribed official is replaced, then you must either bribe the current position-holder a convincing amount or face increased scrutiny. (In the USA balance of campaign contributions, you can get away with donating less to Republicans because they like to give the impression that they don't take bribes. Also, Democrats will happily condemn anyone who does donate to Republicans at all, even if 90% of the company's political donations are to Democrats.)
2) Someone else in the chain decides they want a cut. This increases the total bribe cost, and adds a political issue of figuring out how to balance the bribes to maximize results. There is no stable balance.
3) In the unlikely event that an honest official (probably a new appointment with no related work history) gets involved anywhere near the bribe-route, they will probably notice that the relevant paperwork and regulations were not followed correctly. These individuals will be hostile to attempts to add them to the bribe arrangement for a time, and will make you follow the rules for a while until either the temptation of money wins out or the other corrupt officials get sick of the do-gooder and 'deal with' the individual.
4) A competitor offers a better bribe. You then either have to pay more or be treated as badly as if you weren't bribing to begin with (but don't dare decrease your bribe, that will be taken as a personal attack).
5) The official might think your bribe is too modest, and post the amount publicly on Facebook to shame you: A Restaurant Tried to Tip-Shame a Football Star