By Zanub Saeed
Several nations were named as having the biggest risk of corruption and possibly bribing Walmart officials, which began with an investigation on Mexico's branches of the retail stores, and has expanded to accuse Brazil, India, China, and South Africa, said the Associated Press.
The story began from an article in The New York Times this April, stating that Walmart de Mexico had set up a campaign of bribery to win market dominance in the nation, and that in the rush to build more Walmart chains in the nation - of which there are now over 200, said the Times - the company paid bribes to get permits to open chains all over the country. Having investigated the paper trail leads, the Times found that the bribes by Mexico's subsidiary tallied up to beyond $24 million.
Now, lawyers are looking into Mexico and four other nations in regards to potential bribery and corruption in terms of monopolizing the Walmart franchise in their countries, said the Associated Press. The attorneys were hired by Walmart in the United States to look into an anti-corruption compliance review for its 2011 international operations. The five nations were specifically targeted, said the AP, as they "represented the highest risk."
"We are taking a deep look at our policies and procedures in every country we operate," Dave Tovar, a Wal-Mart spokesman, told the Associated Press.
"We are cooperating with the ongoing federal investigations, and as appropriate, will also continue to assist members of Congress and their staffs in understanding our efforts to address FCPA issues," Tovar continued. "We have already provided committee staff with one briefing and have another briefing scheduled tomorrow."
Two democratic congressmen wrote a letter to Walmart recently, stating that Walmart had not provided any documents regarding possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, said the AP. Those congressmen, Elijah Cummings of Maryland and Henry Waxman of California, also said in their letter to Walmart that the company would not allow their employees to be interviewed regarding the allegations, and request that all the information from Walmart be released by June 26th.
Tover further commented on Walmart's cooperation regarding the investigation.
"We are committed to a full and independent investigation," Tovar told The Wall Street Journal. "A thorough investigation will take time; we're in the early stages, [and] it would be inappropriate to comment further on specific allegations or to come to conclusions before the investigation is complete."
