HP Bribe Probe Widens
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) disclosed Thursday that a probe by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission of possible bribes the company paid in Russia is now wider than previously reported.
The disclosure, in an SEC filing, pertains to a long-running German investigation of allegations that HP, through a German subsidiary, paid bribes in Russia to secure a contract valued at €35 million, or about $44.5 million, with the office of the prosecutor general of the Russian Federation.
The contract spanned 2001 to 2006 and was for the delivery and installation of an information technology network.
U.S. authorities have joined in that probe, as The Wall Street Journal first reported in August.
