 "The rail link between Udhampur, Srinagar, and Baramulla would connect Kashmir to the rest of the country. PTI")
Amid increased scrutiny of Indian companies in the United States, it has emerged that multiple US companies have also come under the scanner for corrupt practices in recent years, according to a report.
In an investigation published on Monday (December 16), The Daily Pioneer has reported that three US firms accused of bribing Indian officials paid heavy fines to settle cases with the US regulator and avoid prosecution.
The companies, Moog Inc, Oracle, and Albemarle Corporation, were accused of bribing officials across various Indian departments and public sector undertakings (PSUs), such as the railways, Hindustan Aeronautical Limited (HAL), and Indian Oil Corporation.
In two of the three cases, officials who allegedly got bribes were from the railways.
On average, the three companies each paid three-times to the regulator, US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), in penalties to settle the cases than what they allegedly paid to Indian officials in bribes, according to the newspaper.
US firms accused of bribing Indian officials pay over $200 million in fines
In the first case, Moog Inc was accused of paying more than $500,000 in bribe to officials at HAL and Indian Railways.
The company is spread across military, aerospace, and industrial machinery sectors, dealing primarily in the designing and manufacturing of advanced motion control products for aerospace, defence, industrial, and medical applications, according to its website
The Pioneer cited US official documents as showing that the company paid bribes to through its Indian subsidiary Moog Motion Controls Private Limited (MMCPL) to officials at (HAL), South Central Railway, and Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO) of Railways to win a contract from the SCR worth $34,323 and from HAL worth $1,399,328. The documents showed that the HAL official was allegedly paid 5 per cent commission.
The newspaper reported that the Moog Inc paid $1.68 million to settle the case.
In the second case, IT giant Oracle was accused of paying more than $6.8 million in bribes to Indian Railways’ officials and organisations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Turkey, according to the newspaper.
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More ShortsIn this case, the company allegedly paid around $6.8 million in bribes and then paid $23 million in fine to settle the cases.
In the third case, US chemical manufacturer Albemarle was accused of paying around $63.5 million in bribes to Indian Oil officials and companies in Indonesia and Vietnam, according to the newspaper.
These bribes were paid to win contracts of Indian Oil and Vietnam- and Indonesia-based companies, as per the US Department of Justice (DoJ).
Notably, Albemarle is a major chemical supplier that has business with around 700 refineries across the world, including with Indian Oil.
Of the total bribes that the company is accused of paying in the matter, around $1.14 million were paid to official(s) in India during 2009-11 and the company made profits to the tune of $11.14 million from business generated from those bribes, according to the SEC order cited by the newspaper.
The company paid a fine of around $198 million to settle the case.