Daimler charged with violating U.S. bribery laws

[DainBramaged]

Daimler AG was charged with violating U.S. bribery laws related to deals in at least 22 countries over almost a decade, according to a document filed in a U.S. court today.

The U.S. Justice Department accused Daimler of having "engaged in a long-standing practice of paying bribes to 'foreign officials,'" related to deals in Russia, Turkey, Egypt, China, Nigeria, Iraq and other countries, the document said.

The criminal information document that was filed is typically used in plea agreements with the Justice Department.

A Daimler spokeswoman declined to comment on any settlement of the charges until an April 1 hearing in U.S. District Court in Washington D.C.

A Justice Department spokeswoman also declined to comment.

The charges consist of two counts: conspiracy, and falsifying books and records under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

The deals involved hundreds of payments worth tens of millions of dollars to foreign officials to help win contracts to provide vehicles to governments valued at hundreds of millions of dollars, the document said.

"In some cases, Daimler wired these improper payments to U.S. bank accounts or to the foreign bank accounts of U.S. shell companies in order to transmit the bribe," the court papers said.

The transactions with connections to the United States resulted in more than $50 million in pre-tax profits for Daimler, the Justice Department charged.



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