Hewlett-Packard Pleads Guilty To Bribing Officials in Russia, Poland, and Mexico

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Hewlett-Packard Pleads Guilty To Bribing Officials in Russia, Poland, and Mexico

Posted by timothy on Friday September 12, 2014 @12:10AM from the keeping-the-crony-in-crony-capitalism dept.

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.

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Who pays? by Anonymous Coward · 2014-09-12 00:15 · Score: 4, Insightful

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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Re:best to do the time in Poland by Quantus347 · 2014-09-12 00:21 · Score: 4, Insightful

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.

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So what? by The+Evil+Atheist · 2014-09-12 00:22 · Score: 5, Funny

So they admitted to doing business in Poland, Russia and Mexico. Big deal.

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Those who do not learn from commit history are doomed to regress it.
1. Re:So what? by swillden · 2014-09-12 01:03 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  So they admitted to doing business in Poland, Russia and Mexico. Big deal.
  Pretty much.
  When I worked for IBM we tried to do business in Mexico. We didn't fail completely, IBM does have some small operations there, but we were perpetually hamstrung by the fact that company policies defined under the American model prevented us from competing effectively in Mexico. It sounds like someone at HP decided not to be so limited.
  It's really sad. The endemic corruption in some of these countries really holds them back. I spent two years living in southeastern Mexico when I was a young adult (as a Mormon missionary), and I really learned to love the country, the people, the food, the language... Mexico is a fantastic nation, rich in natural resources, with many interesting cultures and sub-cultures and (American stereotypes to the contrary) a powerful work ethic. But the endemic corruption and all that it enables (e.g. drug-related violence, election fraud and inefficient business and government) make it impossible for the nation to realize its full potential.
  
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2. Re:So what? by swillden · 2014-09-12 03:09 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  endemic corruption and all that it enables (e.g. drug-related violence, election fraud and inefficient business and government) make it impossible for the nation to realize its full potential.
  Yes, the influence of the corruption in Norteamericano politics really has boned Mexico. Wait, is that not what you meant?
  The influence of Norteamericano (a misnomer, since México is also part of Norteamérica) politics has boned México, but not so much because of our political corruption but because of our failed drug policy. The really horrible drug violence problems they're facing now are a result of caving to US pressure to try to stop the flow of drugs through Mexico. The attempt failed utterly, as anyone with a brain knew it was going to, and it turned the Mexican drug traffickers into ultra-violent thugs. The relatively peaceful traffickers from 20 years ago were imprisoned or killed, and the guys who replace them are seriously nasty.
  
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Re:best to do the time in Poland by jd2112 · 2014-09-12 00:24 · Score: 5, Insightful

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?

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Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
Must have failed to bribe someone to keep quiet by NotDrWho · 2014-09-12 00:41 · Score: 3, Insightful

When you start down the road of bribery and corruption, just know that you can never get off it.

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SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
Hewlett & Packard are spinning in graves by Anonymous Coward · 2014-09-12 00:59 · Score: 3, Insightful

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?
Yeah, whatever ... by gstoddart · 2014-09-12 01:03 · Score: 3, Interesting

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.

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Cultural Differences by dcw3 · 2014-09-12 01:05 · Score: 3, Insightful

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.

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Just another day in Paradise
1. Re:Cultural Differences by dj245 · 2014-09-12 02:29 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  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.
  That's a "Facilitating payment" and is actually OK for US companies to pay. A facilitating payment is payment to make someone do something faster or more efficiently, but the person was obligated to do that thing anyway. Good examples are customs clearance, port expediting payments, etc. The official is obligated to release items from customs if all the paperwork is correct. He isn't obligated to do that in a timely fashion, however. The payment just makes his inevitable action happen faster.
  
  When you pay for an action which may not have happened without payment (like a favorable decision) that is when it becomes bribery.
  
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Re: best to do the time in Poland by briancox2 · 2014-09-12 02:04 · Score: 3, Informative

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.

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Standard operating procedure by sshir · 2014-09-12 02:04 · Score: 4, Informative

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.
Official Bags by Translation+Error · 2014-09-12 02:06 · Score: 5, Funny

HP Poland gave the government official bags filled with hundreds of thousands of dollars of cash
What are 'official bags'? Are those the ones with a big dollar sign on the side?

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When someone says, "Any fool can see ..." they're usually exactly right.
Re: best to do the time in Poland by ArsenneLupin · 2014-09-12 03:18 · Score: 3, Informative

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