Pfizer pays $60.2m after admitting giving bribes to foreign officials

Pfizer Inc will pay $60.2m (£38.1m, €248.0m) after a US government probe into illegal payments to win business as part of a crackdown on bribery by multinational corporations that has involved several of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies.

 

The 1977 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act makes it illegal for US companies and foreign firms whose stock is traded in the US to bribe government officials in foreign countries.

 

In 2004, Pfizer became the first pharmaceutical company to volunteer information about past wrongdoing and, last year, Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay $70m to settle charges that it paid bribes to win business in Greece, Iraq, Poland and Romania.

 

Pfizer admits to making improper payments, dating back to 2001, to officials in Russia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kazakhstan, Serbia, Czech Republic, China and Italy.

 

Pfizer’s counsel, Amy Schulman, said of the settlement: “The actions which led to this resolution were disappointing, but the openness and speed with which Pfizer voluntarily disclosed and addressed them reflects our true culture and the real value we place on integrity and meeting commitments.”