Siemens AG will pay $800 million for paying bribes to gain contracts

Siemens AG agreed to pay $800 million to settle a U.S. inquiry under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and it's close to settling a parallel inquiry by German prosecutors, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.

The inquiries looked at whether the Munich engineering and transport giant (DE:723610: news, chart, profile) paid bribes to gain contracts, the paper said. 

In settling the U.S. inquiry conducted by the Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission, the company will say it failed to keep accurate accounts or maintain adequate internal controls, the Journal reported. 

But it won't be required to say that it committed bribery, and it will thus be able to continue to bid for public-sector infrastructure projects in the U.S., the people familiar with the matter told the paper. 

The settlement for the nearly two-year investigation may be announced on Monday after a court hearing in Washington, the Journal reported. 

Three ex-Siemens managers who were involved in the situation were this year given suspended prison terms by German courts, the paper reported. Prosecutors in Germany may indict others in the scandal, people familiar with the case told the Journal.

Source: MarketWatch