14 DAY TRIAL // The Redmond-based technology giant Microsoft is once again trying to deal with the long arm of the law, as the company is now investigated by US officials for allegedly bribing government officials in three different countries in exchange for software contracts.
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are reportedly looking into claims made by a former Microsoft representative in China who informed state officials that the software giant offered some form of kickbacks to state officials in China, Italy and Romania in return for software contracts estimated at tens of million dollars.
The US government isn’t officially accusing Microsoft of bribery, so the investigation might end with no charges for the software maker, but the company has already pledged to provide any type of information US officials might need to probe the allegations.
"Like every large company with operations around the world we sometimes receive allegations about potential misconduct by employees or business partners," John Frank, Microsoft's vice president and deputy general counsel, was quoted as saying by the Wall Street Journal. "We cooperate fully in any government inquiries," he added.
It seems like Microsoft was already aware of bribery claims at its Chinese subsidiary, so the company started its own investigation 10 months ago, but no violation was found.
According to the report, Microsoft representatives have used an Italian consultant to back the company’s efforts to win a state software contract, offering trips and other expensive gifts in return.
"We take all allegations seriously and investigate them fully regardless of the source," Frank continued. "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."
If we are to trust Microsoft’s own statements, more than 170 Redmondians are in charge for investigating any company policy violation, so the software giant might also launch a new internal probe anytime soon.