SAN FRANCISCO, April 15 (Reuters) - German authorities said on Thursday they have targeted nine suspects, including former staff of Hewlett-Packard Co, in a Russian bribery probe amid a report that the U.S. government has joined the investigation.
At issue is whether the world's top PC maker paid $11 million in bribes to win business in Russia.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that the United States government had joined the probe, citing a person familiar with the matter.
The newspaper report said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating whether HP had committed any civil violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, as part of a wider investigation into the company's actions.
In an emailed statement, an HP spokeswoman said: 'HP has been in communication with the SEC and will continue to fully cooperate with the authorities investigating this matter.'
A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment.
Prosecutors in the eastern German city of Dresden said on Thursday they had asked Russian colleagues to search HP offices in Moscow to check suspicions that around 8 million euros ($10.9 million) in bribes changed hands to win a contract.
'The case came to light here,' a spokesman for the prosecutors' office in Dresden said. 'The suspicion is that 8 million euros in kickback payments were made.'
Russian prosecutors on Wednesday raided HP's Moscow offices at the behest of German authorities.
Investigators became suspicious after an audit of a small company in the eastern German state of Saxony turned up money transfers that seemed to produce nothing real in return.
That led to what the spokesman called an international network of money transfers and prompted German officials to search HP premises in the southern town of Boeblingen and in Munich in early December.
He said investigators are examining a 35 million euro contract that HP won in 2000 to provide computers and software for criminal prosecutors in Moscow. The contract was wrapped up by 2007.
CORRUPTION PROBE
The unidentified suspects are under investigation for possible breach of trust, tax evasion and bribery of foreign officials, the spokesman for the prosecutors' office in Dresden said.
German prosecutors were awaiting documents seized in the searches in Moscow before deciding how to proceed.
HP said on Wednesday that a probe was under way but would not confirm specific charges.
'This is an investigation of alleged conduct that occurred almost seven years ago, largely by employees no longer with HP,' the company said in a statement.
'We are cooperating fully with the German and Russian authorities and will continue to conduct our own internal investigation.'
The case is the latest corruption probe to make headlines in Germany.
Carmaker Daimler last month agreed to pay $185 million to settle U.S. charges it showered foreign officials with money and gifts to win contracts, including in Russia.
Engineering group Siemens agreed in 2008 to pay $1.3 billion to end corruption probes in the United States and Germany.
(Reporting by Jens Hack; Additional reporting by Anastasia Teterevleva in Moscow and Gabriel Madway in San Francisco; Writing by Michael Shields; Editing by David Cowell and Matthew Lewis)
($1 = 0.7331 Euro) Keywords: HP RUSSIA/ (michael.shields@thomsonreuters.com, + 49 69 7565 1266; Reuters Messaging: michael.shields.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
At issue is whether the world's top PC maker paid $11 million in bribes to win business in Russia.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that the United States government had joined the probe, citing a person familiar with the matter.
The newspaper report said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating whether HP had committed any civil violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, as part of a wider investigation into the company's actions.
In an emailed statement, an HP spokeswoman said: 'HP has been in communication with the SEC and will continue to fully cooperate with the authorities investigating this matter.'
A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment.
Prosecutors in the eastern German city of Dresden said on Thursday they had asked Russian colleagues to search HP offices in Moscow to check suspicions that around 8 million euros ($10.9 million) in bribes changed hands to win a contract.
'The case came to light here,' a spokesman for the prosecutors' office in Dresden said. 'The suspicion is that 8 million euros in kickback payments were made.'
Russian prosecutors on Wednesday raided HP's Moscow offices at the behest of German authorities.
Investigators became suspicious after an audit of a small company in the eastern German state of Saxony turned up money transfers that seemed to produce nothing real in return.
That led to what the spokesman called an international network of money transfers and prompted German officials to search HP premises in the southern town of Boeblingen and in Munich in early December.
He said investigators are examining a 35 million euro contract that HP won in 2000 to provide computers and software for criminal prosecutors in Moscow. The contract was wrapped up by 2007.
CORRUPTION PROBE
The unidentified suspects are under investigation for possible breach of trust, tax evasion and bribery of foreign officials, the spokesman for the prosecutors' office in Dresden said.
German prosecutors were awaiting documents seized in the searches in Moscow before deciding how to proceed.
HP said on Wednesday that a probe was under way but would not confirm specific charges.
'This is an investigation of alleged conduct that occurred almost seven years ago, largely by employees no longer with HP,' the company said in a statement.
'We are cooperating fully with the German and Russian authorities and will continue to conduct our own internal investigation.'
The case is the latest corruption probe to make headlines in Germany.
Carmaker Daimler last month agreed to pay $185 million to settle U.S. charges it showered foreign officials with money and gifts to win contracts, including in Russia.
Engineering group Siemens agreed in 2008 to pay $1.3 billion to end corruption probes in the United States and Germany.
(Reporting by Jens Hack; Additional reporting by Anastasia Teterevleva in Moscow and Gabriel Madway in San Francisco; Writing by Michael Shields; Editing by David Cowell and Matthew Lewis)
($1 = 0.7331 Euro) Keywords: HP RUSSIA/ (michael.shields@thomsonreuters.com, + 49 69 7565 1266; Reuters Messaging: michael.shields.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.