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In one meeting where the bribery case was discussed, H. Lee Scott Jr., then Wal-Mart’s chief executive, rebuked internal investigators for being overly aggressive. Days later, records show, Wal-Mart’s top lawyer arranged to ship the internal investigators’ files on the case to Mexico City. Primary responsibility for the investigation was then given to the general counsel of Wal-Mart de Mexico — a remarkable choice since the same general counsel was alleged to have authorized bribes.
The general counsel promptly exonerated his fellow Wal-Mart de Mexico executives.
When Wal-Mart’s director of corporate investigations — a former top F.B.I. official — read the general counsel’s report, his appraisal was scathing. “Truly lacking,” he wrote in an e-mail to his boss.
The report was nonetheless accepted by Wal-Mart’s leaders as the last word on the matter.
In December, after learning of The Times’s reporting in Mexico, Wal-Mart informed the Justice Department that it had begun an internal investigation into possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a federal law that makes it a crime for American corporations and their subsidiaries to bribe foreign officials. Wal-Mart said the company had learned of possible problems with how it obtained permits, but stressed that the issues were limited to “discrete” cases.
“We do not believe that these matters will have a material adverse effect on our business,” the company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
well your honor see... it's like this see...we didn't break the law because we did it on the "super secret double down low" and it doesn't affect our bottom line.... and i'll bet they get away with it... sigh.... or they'll have to bribe some regulatory agency half that much to make it go away....
i'm not good with them getting to enjoy the benefits of their corruption as long as they do so with a sullen face as they repentantly take your money. they should shut all of them down. they cheated to gain an unfair advantage over companies that played by the rules, and just like "sports doping" they shouldn't be allowed to return to competition there for a set amount of time.
i'm not good with them getting to enjoy the benefits of their corruption as long as they do so with a sullen face as they repentantly take your money. they should shut all of them down. they cheated to gain an unfair advantage over companies that played by the rules, and just like "sports doping" they shouldn't be allowed to return to competition there for a set amount of time.