warning Hi, we've moved to USCANNENBERGMEDIA.COM. Visit us there!

Neon Tommy - Annenberg digital news

Wal-Mart May Face Big Fines In Bribery Case

Agnus Dei Farrant |
December 18, 2012 | 4:36 p.m. PST

Executive Producer

Wal-Mart store in Monterrey, Mexico (Creative Commons).
Wal-Mart store in Monterrey, Mexico (Creative Commons).
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. may face sizable fines stemming from allegations of widespread bribery at its Mexican affiliate, Reuters reported. The New York Times released a second report on the alleged bribery Monday night. Experts told Reuters the report shows the alleged bribes were a substantial part of the affiliate’s business methods.

The New York Times reported Wal-Mart used hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to open 19 Walmex stores in Mexico. Wal-Mart declined to comment to Reuters.

According to the Times, Wal-Mart has 2,275 stores, restaurants and supermarkets in Mexico.

From The New York Times:

Thanks to eight bribe payments totaling $341,000, for example, Wal-Mart built a Sam’s Club in one of Mexico City’s most densely populated neighborhoods, near the Basílica de Guadalupe, without a construction license, or an environmental permit, or an urban impact assessment, or even a traffic permit. Thanks to nine bribe payments totaling $765,000, Wal-Mart built a vast refrigerated distribution center in an environmentally fragile flood basin north of Mexico City, in an area where electricity was so scarce that many smaller developers were turned away.

Wal-Mart is cooperating with the U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on the investigation, Reuters reported. The amount of the fines Wal-Mart faces is yet to be determined.

According to Reuters, the Justice Department typically calculates fine amounts in foreign bribery cases by levying a per-violation fine or a penalty tied to the profits a company earned through the alleged bribery. Reuters reported that Walmex posted 2011 gross profits of nearly $6.58 billion.  

The company headquarters are in Bentonville, Ark.

Read more of Neon Tommy’s coverage on Wal-Mart here.

Reach Executive Producer Agnus Dei Farrant here.



 

Buzz

Craig Gillespie directed this true story about "the most daring rescue mission in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard.”

Watch USC Annenberg Media's live State of the Union recap and analysis here.

 
ntrandomness