The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against global electrification and automation technology company, ABB Ltd, for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) arising out of a bribery scheme in South Africa. The company has agreed to pay a $75 million civil penalty to settle the SEC’s charges.
The SEC’s order finds that, from 2015 through 2017, ABB executives in Switzerland and South Africa colluded with a high-ranking government official at Eskom, an electricity provider owned by the South African government, to funnel bribes to the official through complicit third-party service providers with whom the government official had close personal relationships. ABB paid the service providers more than $37 million to bribe the government official. In return ABB obtained a $160 million contract to provide cabling and installation work at Eskom’s Kusile Power Station.
Source: SEC.gov | ABB Settles SEC Charges that it Engaged in Bribery Scheme in South Africa
