Charges
Two tobacco companies settle charges over foreign bribes
Two American tobacco companies are paying nearly $30 million to settle charges that they bribed foreign officials to win lucrative overseas tobacco sales contracts, government officials said.
The companies, the Universal Corporation of Richmond, Va., and Alliance One International of Morrisville, N.C., faced civil and criminal charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department, the government said Friday.
Universal was accused of bribing officials in Thailand, Malawi and Mozambique. Alliance One was accused of bribing officials in Thailand, China, Greece, Indonesia and Kyrgyzstan.
To settle the charges, Universal agreed to pay a criminal fine of $4.4 million and return $4.5 million in profits. Alliance One agreed to pay a criminal fine of $9.45 million and return $10 million in profits.
Alliance One could not be reached for comment. Universal said in a statement that the company voluntarily reported the problems to the authorities and that it had cooperated with the investigation.
"We have absolutely no tolerance for this type of activity," the chief executive, George C. Freeman III, said in the statement.
Universal said it had already put aside funds to cover the settlement, so it would not have to log a charge for its results for the 2011 fiscal year.
Universal will use an independent corporate monitor to study its accounting practices and will change or take up new policies as needed, the company said.
The Justice Department will not prosecute Universal if it follows terms of an agreement with the department for the next three years, Universal said.
(Published by The New York Times – August 7, 2010)