The US Department of Justice and SEC have begun preliminary investigations into the alleged bribery of foreign government officials to secure software contacts, people familiar with the situation told the Wall Street Journal. The allegations were reportedly passed on to the agencies last year by a former representative of Microsoft in China and were the subject of an investigation by a law firm hired by Microsoft that was completed in 2010 and found no evidence of wrongdoing.
The newspaper was also told of Justice Department and SEC probes into potential irregularities in Romania and Italy, where resellers allegedly offered bribes, including gifts and trips, in return for government contracts. The Justice Department and SEC would not comment on the matter, while a Romanian ministry of communications spokeswoman said the accusations were inconsistent with agency recorded and the ministry was not privy to arrangement between Microsoft and its intermediaries.
In response to the report, Microsoft’s vice president and deputy general counsel, John Frank, wrote on a company blog that “We take all allegations seriously and investigate them fully regardless of the source. We also invest heavily in proactive training, monitoring and audits to ensure our business operations around the world meet the highest legal and ethical standards”. He added that it was appropriate for both Microsoft and the government to review such claims, and that it was not unusual for such reviews to find that they are without merit.
