Walmart has to pay $282 million as fine in the US for bribing government officials in India and other countries

• Retail giant Walmart has to pay a $282 million for a bribery investigation which involves its business in India, Brazil, China and Mexico.
• Walmart had acquired Indian e-retail unicorn Flipkart in 2018.
• Meanwhile, Uber, too, in its IPO had mentioned that it was being investigated for bribery in several countries including India.
• Cognizant too had paid a $28 million fine for bribing Indian officials

Walmart has gotten into trouble in the US for its business in India. The retail giant has to pay a $282 million fine in the US for a bribery investigation case for Walmart’s business in India, Brazil, China and Mexico.

The case relates to Walmart’s businesses in these countries before 2011.

“We’re pleased to resolve this matter,” said Walmart President and CEO, Doug McMillon. “Walmart is committed to doing business the right way, and that means acting ethically everywhere we operate. We’ve enhanced our policies, procedures and systems and invested tremendous resources globally into ethics and compliance, and now have a strong Global Anti-Corruption Compliance Program. We want to be the most trusted retailer, and a key to this is maintaining our culture of integrity.”

The company’s statement also says that as part of its deal with the US Department of Justice (DOJ), Walmart has also signed a Non-Prosecution Agreement with them which means the DOJ will not prosecute the company in the next 3 years if it complies with the rules.

The US-based retail giant had first announced its India entry with its offline signature retail outlets in 2007. While it may not have made a mark back then, it came into the spotlight in 2018 when it acquired Indian e-retail unicorn Flipkart for $16 billion – one of the biggest e-commerce deals in the world.

Not the only one

However, Walmart is not the first company in the recent times to run into trouble in the US for corruption charges in India.

When Uber announced its IPO, its filing in the US mentioned that it is being investigated for “small payments to police in Indonesia and other potential improper payments in other countries” in which it operates or has operated including Malaysia, China, and India.

In the past, Cognizant too had paid $28 million in fines to the Securities and Exchange Commission in the US, for bribes paid to Indian officials for building permissions.

See Also:
Uber IPO filing reveals it is under investigation for ‘improper payments’ in India