Alstom to Pay $772 Million to Settle Bribery Charges -- Update

By Brent Kendall and Joel Schectman 

WASHINGTON--French engineering giant Alstom SA pleaded guilty to criminal charges it paid tens of millions of dollars in a "widespread" bribery scheme to win energy contracts around the globe and agreed to pay $772 million to settle the probe, U.S. prosecutors said on Monday.

That amount represents the largest-ever criminal penalty the U.S. Department of Justice has gotten from a company on bribery-related charges. The settlement comes after more than six years of investigations into Alstom from law enforcement in the U.S., Switzerland and Indonesia.

"Alstom's corruption scheme was sustained over more than a decade and across several continents," said Deputy Attorney General James Cole. "It was astounding in its breadth, its brazenness and its worldwide consequences."

The record criminal penalty reflects in part what prosecutors say was as an initial failure of the company to fully cooperate. Among the factors the plea agreement cites is "Alstom's failure to voluntarily disclose the misconduct" as well as it's "refusal to fully cooperate with the department's investigation for several years."

Alstom did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

U.S. authorities have ramped up overseas bribery enforcement in recent years, often investigating foreign companies that have a subsidiary located within the U.S. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act makes it a crime to bribe a government official in exchange for business.

Alstom pleaded guilty to a two-count criminal information filed today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, charging the company with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by falsifying its books and records and failing to implement adequate internal controls.

Alstom's Swiss subsidiary, Alstom Network Schweiz AG, pleaded guilty to a criminal information charging the company with conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA. Two U.S. subsidiaries, Alstom Power Inc. and Alstom Grid Inc., both entered into deferred prosecution agreements, admitting they conspired to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA.

Write to Brent Kendall at [e-mail] and Joel Schectman at [e-mail]

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