Siemens AG has agreed to pay $800 million to settle SEC and DOJ charges that it violated anti-corruption laws by paying $1.36 billion in bribes to government officials worldwide. Bloomberg reports that the DOJ filed a criminal information filed today in Washington alleging that Siemens “knowingly used off-book accounts to conceal corrupt payments, mischaracterized bribes in corporate accounting and falsely described kickbacks paid to the Iraqi government in connection with the United Nations oil-for-food program.”
Bloomberg reports that prosecutors are recommending a fine of $450 million for the company, and Siemens will also have to forfeit $350 million in profits and submit to monitoring to ensure compliance with anti-bribery laws.