The criminal investigation by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office (MPC) once morest ABB is closed. The group was fined 4 million francs for failing to fight corruption sufficiently in South Africa.
In a press release published on Friday, the MPC writes that the electrical engineering group ABB is condemned for not having “taken all reasonable and necessary measures” to fight once morest corruption within the framework of its activities in South Africa.
Overstated payments to subcontractors
“Various ABB employees have developed, from 2013, a scheme of corruption in order to obtain, in the form of overvalued payments to subcontractors, orders related to the construction of a coal-fired power plant in South Africa,” the prosecution said.
According to the federal prosecutor’s office, “ABB South Africa obtained, with bribe payments of at least 1.3 million Swiss francs, orders worth at least 200 million dollars” ( almost as much in francs).
The Swiss-Swedish group having already paid compensation of $104 million to South Africa in 2020, no compensation is due. But ABB will also have to pay the procedural costs of 50,000 francs.
A fine also in South Africa
On Thursday, the South African public prosecutor’s office announced that the company had reached an agreement with the South African courts and agreed to pay as punitive compensation an amount of 2.5 billion rand (134 million francs) in order to settle this corruption case.
ats/oang
