Posted on 12/22/2007 9:06:31 PM PST by pttttt
Lucent Technologies Inc. Agrees to Pay $1 Million Fine to Resolve FCPA Allegations
WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Lucent Technologies Inc. has entered an agreement with the Department of Justice and has agreed to pay a $1 million fine to resolve allegations that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division announced today.
The agreement concludes a multi-year investigation into whether Lucent -- a global communications solutions provider -- violated the FCPA when the company, prior to its November 2006 merger with Alcatel SA, provided travel and other things of value to Chinese government officials and improperly accounted for certain corporate expenditures on behalf of those officials in company books and records.
According to the agreement, from at least 2000 to 2003, Lucent spent millions of dollars on approximately 315 trips for Chinese government officials that included primarily sightseeing, entertainment and leisure. These trips were requested and approved with the consent and knowledge of the most senior Lucent Chinese officials and with the logistical and administrative assistance of Lucent employees in the United States, including at corporate headquarters in Murray Hill, N.J. Lucent improperly recorded expenses for these trips in its books and records and failed to provide adequate internal controls to monitor the provision of travel and other things of value to Chinese government officials.
Lucent acknowledged that it provided Chinese government officials with pre-sale trips to the United States to attend seminars and visit Lucent facilities, as well as to engage in sightseeing, entertainment and leisure activities. In 2002 and 2003 alone, there were 24 Lucent-sponsored pre-sale trips for Chinese government customers. Of these, at least 12 trips were mostly for the purpose of sightseeing. Lucent spent over $1.3 million on at least 65 pre-sale visits between 2000 and 2003. The individuals participating in these trips were senior level government officials, including the heads of state-owned telecommunications companies in Beijing and the leaders of provincial telecommunications subsidiaries.
Between 2000 and 2003, Lucent also provided Chinese government officials with post-sale trips that were typically characterized as "factory inspections" or "training" in contracts with its Chinese government customers. By 2001, however, Lucent had outsourced most of its manufacturing and no longer had any Lucent factories for its customers to tour. Nevertheless, Lucent provided individuals with trips for "factory inspections" to the United States, Europe, Australia, Canada, Japan and other countries that involved little or no business content. These trips consisted primarily or entirely of sightseeing to locations such as Disneyland, Universal Studios, the Grand Canyon, and in cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Washington, D.C., and New York City, and typically lasted 14 days each and cost between $25,000 and $55,000 per trip.
In the agreement, Lucent admits to all of this conduct, as well as other instances of providing travel and educational opportunities to Chinese government officials and to the improper recording of those expenses in its corporate books and records. Lucent has agreed to pay a monetary penalty of $1 million to the United States Treasury. The agreement further requires Lucent to adopt new or modify existing internal controls, policies and procedures. Those enhanced internal controls must ensure that Lucent makes and keeps fair and accurate books, records and accounts, as well as a rigorous anti-corruption compliance code, standards and procedures designed to detect and deter violations of the FCPA and other applicable anti-corruption laws. The Justice Department has agreed not to prosecute Lucent if it complies with all of the requirements contained in the agreement over a two-year term.
In a related matter, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today filed a settled complaint against Lucent. Lucent consented to the entry of a permanent injunction and agreed to pay $1.5 million in civil penalties in connection with similar conduct.
This case was handled by Fraud Section Trial Attorney Amanda Riedel. Significant assistance was provided by the Enforcement Division of the SEC.
SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice
All the time. That’s how business is done in foreign countries. If the contract is on the line, you don’t cheap out.
More..
"China's government also uses influence operations designed to advance pro-Chinese policies in the United States and to prevent the U.S. government from taking tough action or adopting policies against Beijing's interests, FBI officials said.
"Rudy Guerin, a senior FBI counterintelligence official in charge of China affairs, said the Chinese aggressively exploit their connections to U.S. corporations doing business in China.
"'They go straight to the companies themselves,' he said.
"Many U.S. firms doing business in China, including such giants as Coca-Cola, Boeing and General Motors, use their lobbyists on behalf of Beijing.
"'We see the Chinese going to these companies to ask them to lobby on their behalf on certain issues,' Mr. Guerin said, 'whether it's most-favored-nation trade status, [World Health Organization], Falun Gong or other matters.'"
[End quotes. My emphasis]
Why doesn't Lucent just say it's refunding leftover expense money from their last lobbying assignment?
That’s how business is done here, too... Except we call the carriers of the bribes “lobbyists” and the splurges “fact finding trips”... ;)
Looking back, I doubt I have ever attended a productive "seminar", or even had a productive business trip, in my entire career, that could not have been done with Netmeeting or ISDN.
The worst was at a Government facility. Hopeful contractors attended, only to disover the "meeting and seminar" was conducted by a minority set-aside who performed Motivation ("Paradigm Shift" bullshit) Seminars. The Agency simply had that money to burn and had to meet a quota. No business was conducted during the ordeal, and no business was generated. It was a total loss for everyone, and even the agency employees were disgusted.
Why else do conventions and seminars involve good climates, theme parks, and golf courses? Who's fooling who?
I agree. William Shakespeare almost had it right “First let’s kill all the lawyers”. He just didn’t know about lobbyists at that time or he would have included them.
Perhaps the fines should have been levied against the company officers who approved the technology transers to China rather than the company.
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