Hewlett-Packard will pay the U.S. government $108 million to settle charges that former employees paid bribes to officials in Russia, Mexico and Poland.
Hewlett-Packard Co. will make the payments to the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The SEC says an HP division in Russia paid $2 million to make sure the company retained a contract with the federal prosecutor’s office there. A Mexican subsidiary paid $1 million to keep a contract with the country’s state-owned oil company, while $600,000 in gifts and bribes were paid to a Polish official to win contracts with the police.
HP’s general counsel, John Schultz, said the misconduct was limited to a small number of people who are no longer with the company. HP is based in Palo Alto, Calif.
Associated Press