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SAP Paid Bribes To Panamanian Officials
jfruh writes: A former SAP exec has pled guilty to bribing Panamanian officials in a successful attempt to sell SAP licenses to the Panamanian government. Vicente Eduardo Garcia, SAP's former vice president of global and strategic accounts for Latin America, says he wasn't the only SAP employee who knew about the scheme. From the Dept. of Justice press release, "According to Garcia’s admissions, the conspirators used sham contracts and false invoices to disguise the true nature of the bribes. Garcia further admitted that he believed paying such bribes was necessary to secure both the initial contract and additional Panamanian government contracts."
I thought this was the only way SAP gets sold. It's not like any rational person would pull it into their organization. But for a $90K payday, sure, it's only the taxpayers' money, right?
Paying bribes is one of the only ways SAP is likely to get their foot in the door. After that the money all flows the other way.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
Corruption in South America? Say it ain't so!
I could hardly believe it myself!
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
>> in South America? Say it ain't so!
I'll say it ain't so. Panama's in CENTRAL America.
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=google+ma...
I thought SAP already had pretty a pretty solid foothold in the Spanish-speaking world.
You always see "Transmitido en Español en SAP" at the beginning of soap operas and game shows and things.
"These people look deep within my soul and assign me a number based on the order in which I joined" --Homer re:
Yeah, yeah, we get it. You want some of that corporate america money for yourself but that annoying FCPA law stops them from giving you the bribes you deserve.
You're really dipping into classic villain territory here. Insulting someone for taking the moral high ground even if it means a minor inconvenience (slightly reduced profits).
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!
I know I sound cynical, but enterprise software vendors can't make these multimillion dollar deals happen without greasing a few palms. These software packages are so awful and require millions more in consulting beyond the license price -- I can't see any technically oriented person supporting their purchase without some inducement. In this case, it was a direct bribe that the sales team thought they could get away with.
Most software companies slip these things under the table through channels that don't legally qualify as bribes. Ever wonder why horrible expensive software packages are sometimes called "golf course ware?" It's a dirty business and things like paying for some kid of an exec's school tuition, or rounds and rounds of strip club visits, or golf, or "educational product seminars" in Aruba is just cost of sales for these companies. It's kind of like lobbyists -- they can't legally hand a Congressperson a paper bag full of money, but they can sure make things happen for them behind the scenes that are the equivalent of the paper bag.
Part of me wishes I was a CTO so I could just line up the vendors and collect bribe after bribe...oops, sorry, "favor" after "favor." Then again, I've worked with some of this horrible software (SAP, Oracle, etc.) and the awful botton-of-the-barrel offshored or H-1B management consultants they send in to "implement" them. No wonder everyone outside of large businesses wants nothing to do with big monolithic packages!!
Everything that's south of the Nothern America is Southern America... at least for some :)
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
Absolutely. I work for a multinational that has to get equipment into...less than reputable...parts of the world. If you try to ship something yourself to some countries, you can guarantee that most of it will be "lost in transit" or stuck in customs for months and months while a whole network of people get paid to get it through.
Companies that do lots of international shipping have to rely on "freight forwarders" These are the companies that actually pay the bribes, know the right contacts to get stuff through customs, etc. This way, the company doing the shipping is "protected" from directly bribing officials. As you can imagine, shipping bulk goods this way is not at all cheap!
I knew German software was bad, but they really have to PAY people to use it?
In the international marketplace, all anti-bribery laws do is put European and American countries at a disadvantage. Do you think China or India are paying the slightest bit of attention to anti-bribery laws?
All such laws do is force companies to relocate to the Bahamas or somewhere like it for "greater operational flexibility" (i.e. legal bribery) in order to compete.
You're not going to get rid of corruption in Nigeria, Venezuela or Kazakhstan by passing some dimwitted do-gooder laws in Europe or the USA. It's ineffective and self-defeating.
Please do not read this sig. Thank you.
I am no expert in Panamanian culture but it seems to be accepted, even by the general populace. I have spent a bit of time in the area and greasing palms is how you get things done. Hell, it is how you function. Add an extra $100 to your gas money expenses just to travel. Carry gifts and currency. Carry AMERICAN currency. I have driven around in a giant RV (which they can really make a mess of but don't - they are out of sight and can more easily accept a gift or a cash payment) with way too many drugs in me and on me.
The important thing seems to be to know about it. I had good travel tips before doing any of this but still asked the locals. I am sort of fluent in Spanish but I know enough to flub it and pretend I do not understand. That, too, comes in handy. When they talk amongst themselves and mention getting more money from me then I know it is time to reach around and find some additional documentation to help prove that I am allowed to be there.
If you are going to carry drugs (and there does not seem to be much reason to go there otherwise - for me, though the people are awesome and honest) then hide them but do not make them look hard for them. In my case they are usually in the small fidge that my RV has. I invite them in, let them look around, offer them my documentation and, if need be, offer them a drink. They see the drugs and I give them more documentation. We shoot the shit, they speak English well enough, and they do not tear my shit apart. Some of them even do drugs.
I do not do any more opiates because I am tired of being addicted. Well, I still do my Suboxone. I still do sometimes go south and get a big pile of coke and have myself a hell of a good time. I sometimes smoke a little weed but, frankly, I get better weed here in Maine than I do in that area.
Do not bring firearms and do not attempt to bring things back across the border. Bringing stuff back requires a lot more work and a whole lot more documentation. Think of it as a holiday only just bring back t-shirts. Also, bars are an excellent source of information. I do not drink so I still go to bars if I need to find something and am not in the right area. Again, you will need money for information but, believe it or not, you can really (usually) trust the people.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
I spent four years in Central America, in Costa Rica and Panama. I only wonder why this is news.
If you take a look at the Panama City skyline, it's pretty impressive. The population for the metropolitan area is only about 1.5 million though, so why all the skyscrapers? Who lives there?
No one. The government started investing in infrastructure after the Canal changed hands and they actually started getting money from it, and this fostered a booming construction trade. The construction companies thought that this government money was a grand idea, and the best way to keep it flowing is obviously to kick some of it back to the government officials. The government has spend the last decade trying to hide the debt that has been piling up as a result of this, and the only thing that I can say is that at least some of the money went into infrastructure.
Corruption is the expected norm in the entirety of Central America. It's how things are done there. I've bribed police there myself, and one of my friends was elected Representante de Panama while I was there: I can confirm that this operates the same way on all levels. The only reason I can think of why this would show up in the news at all is that someone didn't get paid enough. Where is the story here?
Those who advocate genocide deserve every protection afforded by law, and none afforded by common human decency.