Allegations of bribery are understood to centre around software sales to government agencies in Western and Central Africa
US authorities are investigating allegations that executives working for software group Oracle bribed African officials, in violation of anti-bribery laws.
Agents at the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and the Justice department have been investigating the claims for at least a year, the Wall Street Journal reported. Top financial watchdog the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is also looking at possible civil violations. The allegations are understood to centre around software sales to government agencies in Western and Central Africa. Law enforcement agencies are investigating whether Oracle or people working for the company made payments to government officials to secure contracts. Oracle did not return calls for comment.
Such payments would violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which makes it a crime for US companies and their employees to offer or pay bribes to foreign government officials or employees of state-owned companies.
US authorities have been increasingly aggressive in their use of the FCPA, said professor Mike Koehler of Butler University, author of The FCPA Blog. Koehler said FCPA actions had increased with the increasing globalisation of business and stricter requirements for disclosure brought in under 2002's Sarbanes Oxley rules.
"Every week there seem to be more and more companies going through what Oracle is going through," said Koehler. The Justice Department brought 24 enforcement actions in 2010, up from five in 2004, and has brought seven so far this year. Penalties too have increased. In 2009 and 2010 criminal totalled a combined $2bn, up from about $11m in 2004. Koehler calculates that in 2010 FCPA actions accounted for 50% of the fines levied by the Justice department's criminal division.
Koehler said he expected Oracle would fully cooperate with the authorities. Many companies uncover information about potential bribes themselves and then report to the authorities in the hope of favourable treatment. A public company has not fought an FCPA action for more than 20 years.
Oracle is one of several technology businesses under investigation. The US authorities are also looking at allegations that Hewlett Packard executives made illegal payments to foreign state-owned and private companies.
This year IBM paid the SEC $10m to resolve civil allegations that employees paid bribes in Asia in exchange for computer gear. The company neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing.
The reported action against Oracle comes as US authorities are considering an FCPA investigation of News Corporation, owner of the now closed News of The World and one of the US's largest media firms. The authorities are investigating whether executives at the News of The World sanctioned payments to police officers to secure exclusive stories.
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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/aug/31/oracle-africa-dealings-fbi-investigation
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