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

Posted by timothy on 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.

4 of 110 comments (clear)

  1. So what? by The+Evil+Atheist · · 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 · · 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:best to do the time in Poland by jd2112 · · 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.
  3. Official Bags by Translation+Error · · 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.