Honeywell International Inc. has agreed to a settlement over criminal and civil charges that it engaged in bribery schemes in Brazil and Algeria, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced.
The SEC found that in 2010, Honeywell offered at least $4 million in bribes to a high-ranking official with Brazil’s government. It was allegedly offered in connection with the bidding process at the Brazil state-owned oil company Petrobras, in an effort to obtain business.
The following year, the SEC alleges that employees and agents with the Belgian subsidiary of Honeywell paid over $75,000 in bribes to an official with Algeria’s government in order to get business from Algeria’s state-owned oil company Sonatrach.
Honeywell, a U.S.-based global manufacturer of aerospace, building technologies, and automation products, agreed to pay over $81 million to settle SEC charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
“For years, Honeywell neglected to implement sufficient internal accounting controls to mitigate against known corruption risks in countries like Brazil and Algeria,” said Charles Cain, Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s FCPA Unit. “This failure created an environment in which Honeywell employees and agents could and did facilitate bribes.”
Honeywell consented to the SEC’s order that it violated the anti-bribery, books and records, and internal accounting controls provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
The firm was also charged in a separate criminal investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice. In that case, Honeywell entered into a deferred prosecution agreement and agreed to pay more than $78 million to settle the criminal charges as well as additional charges brought by the Brazilian government.
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