Microsoft pays $25M to settle corruption charges
Microsoft is paying more than $25 million to settle federal corruption charges that stem from a bribery scheme in Hungary, as well as other foreign offices, U.S. officials said.
The tech giant will pay about $16.6 million to settle charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission said in a statement. In addition, the commission said it also found improprieties at Microsoft offices in Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Turkey.
The Hungarian bid-rigging and bribery scheme will also result in an additional $8.75 million criminal fine, the Justice Department said.
From 2013 through 2015, a senior executive and other employees at Microsoft's Hungary office took part in a scheme to "inflate margins in the Microsoft sales channel" in connection with Microsoft software licenses sold to Hungarian government agencies, federal prosecutors said.
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The prosecutors also said savings were falsely recorded as discounts and used for corrupt purposes.
In a letter to employees, Microsoft President Brad Smith said the misconduct was "completely unacceptable" and involved a small number of employees. He also outlined changes to prevent public sector discounts from being used improperly.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.