The US agricultural and construction equipment firm Deere has agreed to pay $10 million to settle US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charges that its Thai subsidiary bribed state agencies to win business.
The bribes took the form of massage parlour services, lavish overseas trips and other gifts to win government business, the SEC said in a statement released on Tuesday in Washington.
Wirtgen Thailand, the local subsidiary of Deere, committed the offences between late 2017 through 2020. The recipients were officials of state agencies including the Royal Thai Air Force, the Department of Highways and the Department of Rural Roads.
Other bribes were paid to a large Thai construction contractor identified in the SEC case summary only as “Company A”.
The SEC said payments were made even though the subsidiary’s code of conduct prohibited giving “absolutely anything” to influence government officials. Such actions are punishable under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in the United States.
The payments made from late 2017 through 2020 allegedly took the form of cash, meals, fake consulting fees, sightseeing trips disguised as “factory visits” in Switzerland and other European countries, and massage parlour “entertainment”, the SEC said.
Deere’s payment includes a $4.5-million civil fine and $1.09 million in interest.
