Tech companies face FCPA heat.
California-based software giant Oracle has been the subject of a criminal bribery investigation that involves unethical selling practices in Africa.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating Oracle for potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Regulators are trying to determine if the second-biggest maker of business software violated federal anti-bribery laws by engaging in fraudulent selling practices in Western and Central African countries.
The report says that agents in the FBI's Washington field office and fraud prosecutors in the DoJ Criminal Division are handling a criminal investigation, which has been going on for at least a year. Meanwhile, attorneys in the SEC are investigating for possible civil violations.
Recently, it seems that technology companies have been hit with a series of FCPA violations. In February Corporate Secretary reported that a subsidiary of Maxwell Technologies agreed to pay $14 million in fines after allegedly bribing Chinese government officials to secure sales of its products in several of its Chinese state-owned entities.
Then, in March, New York-based International Business Machines (IBM) agreed to fork over $10 million to resolve civil FCPA allegations.
Moreover, reportedly, Oracle’s competitor Hewlett-Packard is under investigation into potential violations in Russia and other countries.
