Tuesday, March 1, 2011

TM: Internal probe report on alleged Alcatel Lucent payments handed to MACC

KUALA LUMPUR: TELEKOM MALAYSIA BHD [] said the internal probe report on alleged improper payments to TM staff by Alcatel-Lucent S.A .has been concluded and handed to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

TM said on Tuesday, March 1 the internal investigation which was carried out by KPMG Corporate Services Sdn Bhd (KPMG) and the TM special affairs unit of its internal audit division was performed 'as exhaustively possible'.

'TM will continue to cooperate with MACC in its investigations relating to this case,' it said.

To recap, the US Securities and Exchange Commission had charged the Paris-based Alcatel-Lucent with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by paying bribes to foreign government officials to illicitly win business in Latin America and Asia.

TM had on Dec 29 last year warned it would take appropriate action against any of its employees, if they had received such payments.

The SEC alleged Alcatel's subsidiaries used consultants who performed little or no legitimate work to funnel more than US$8 million in bribes to government officials in order to obtain or retain lucrative telecommunications contracts and other contracts.

Alcatel agreed to pay more than US$45 million to settle the SEC's charges, and pay an additional US$92 million to settle criminal charges announced today by the US Department of Justice.

The settlement covered activities in several countries in Africa, Latin America, Asia, including Malaysia.

The investigation in Malaysia covers events that occurred between October 2004 and February 2006, and involve alleged improper payments to TM's employees.

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