US industrial giant Honeywell will pay $160 million to close civil and criminal investigations in Brazil and the United States into bribery to obtain business with two state-owned oil companies, the US government said Monday.
Company officials offered some $4 million in payments between 2010 and 2014 to a senior Petrobras official to win a $425 million contract to design and build an oil refinery for the Brazilian state-owned giant, the Department said Monday. of Justice in a statement.
In exchange for the bribe, the official provided “inside information and secret assistance” that allowed Honeywell to win the contract that netted $105.5 million in profit, he added.
“Honeywell UOP conspired to bribe a senior Petrobras official to win a contract with the company,” said Michael Glasheen, acting assistant director of the FBI’s Washington office, who worked with Brazilian agents on the investigation.
“Corruption schemes like these transcend borders, and collaboration with our foreign partners is crucial to combat international corruption,” the source added.
About half of the $160 million will go to settle a parallel civil lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. stock market policeman.
In addition to the Petrobras case, the SEC complaint concerns allegations that Honeywell paid more than $75,000 in bribes to Algerian government officials in 2011 to win business with Sonatrach, the state oil company.