Sponsored by: Investment Center

Something new in your business?  Click here to submit your business press release

Chamber Corner | Main Street News | Job Hunt | Classifieds | Calendar | Illinois Lottery 

Bilfinger to pay $32M over U.S. corruption charges

[December 10, 2013]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) — German engineering company Bilfinger SE <GBFG.DE> will pay $32 million to resolve U.S. criminal charges that it bribed Nigerian officials to obtain contracts on a gas project in the African nation, the Justice Department said on Monday.

Prosecutors charged the company with paying more than $6 million in bribes, in violation of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Bilfinger worked with others to inflate the price of a bid by 3 percent to cover the cost of the payments, prosecutors said.

The Justice Department said it agreed to defer the charges for three years and drop them if Bilfinger improves its controls and hires an independent monitor for 18 months to assess the company's compliance.

Bilfinger Chief Executive Roland Koch said the company was pleased to put the events behind it.

"In recent years, Bilfinger has consistently expanded its compliance instruments and today has a modern and efficient system," Koch said in a statement.

Prosecutors previously resolved charges with Bilfinger's collaborator on the bribes, Willbros Group Inc., and with three former Willbros executives or consultants who pleaded guilty. A fourth remains a fugitive.

(Reporting by Aruna Viswanatha; editing by Dan Grebler)

[© 2013 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2013 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.