WALLDORF (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced that software manufacturer SAP SE (SAP) agreed to give up $3.7 million in sales profits to settle charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or FCPA when procuring business in Panama.
An SEC investigation found that SAP's deficient internal controls allowed a former SAP executive to pay $145,000 in bribes to a senior Panamanian government official and offer bribes to two others in exchange for lucrative sales contracts. The SEC charged the SAP executive, Vicente E. Garcia, in a separate enforcement action last year that included a parallel criminal action. Garcia has been sentenced to 22 months in prison.
'SAP's internal controls failed to flag Garcia's misconduct as he easily falsified internal approval forms and disguised his bribes as discounts,' said Kara Brockmeyer, Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division's FCPA Unit.
The SEC's order found that SAP violated the internal controls provisions and the books and records provisions of the FCPA. Without admitting or denying the findings, SAP consented to the entry of the cease-and-desist order and agreed to pay disgorgement of $3.7 million in profits from SAP's software sales to the Panamanian government plus prejudgment interest of $188,896.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX