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Microsoft Hit With US Bribery Probe Over Deals in Hungary (wsj.com)

Posted by msmash on from the growth-at-any-cost dept.

Microsoft is being investigated by U.S. authorities over potential bribery and corruption related to software sales in Hungary, WSJ reported Thursday. From a report: The investigation follows a series of similar probes into Microsoft business partners that surfaced in 2013 in five other countries. Microsoft made a push earlier this decade to expand in emerging markets, as well as smaller, middle-income countries like Hungary. In some cases, those bets have turned into legal and reputational challenges. The U.S. Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission are probing how Microsoft sold software such as Word and Excel to middleman firms in Hungary that then sold those products to government agencies there in 2013 and 2014, according to these people. Microsoft sold some of its products to these intermediaries at steep discounts, and then these firms sold the products to the Hungarian government at closer to full price, these people said.

3 of 52 comments (clear)

  1. 'This is Not Your Father's Microsoft' by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 4, Informative

    Hmm... sure seems like they haven't changed.

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    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
  2. Re:these people just discovered wholesale by szabo.m.peter · · Score: 5, Informative

    The government is a big enough buyer to by from MS directly, there is no need for middle-men.

    This was about corruption, rather than usual business business. It seems the corruption scheme was organized by high ranking government officials (who probably purchased much more licences than needed), and the middle-men where paying kickbacks to these officials.

    It seems MS Hungary leadership also knew about the sales being a fraud, as the (at the time) CEO of MS Hungary was quickly fired by the mother company. After leaving MS Hungary, he got a high ranking job in the Ministry that organized the license purchases...

  3. Why action for bribes in other countries? by SuperKendall · · Score: 3, Informative

    The fact of the matter is, there are some places on earth where any business of any size is not going to be done without bribes.

    Why punish Microsoft for doing what every other company does in Hungary?

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    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley