Wal-Mart Accused of Using Mexican Governor to Push Bribes
January 29th, 2013Via: Bloomberg:
Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s (WMT) Mexican unit used a current state governor there to facilitate $156,000 in bribes meant to help open stores, an ex-lawyer for the retailer told company officials in 2005, according to documents released by members of the U.S. Congress.
The payments were negotiated by Graco Ramirez Garrido Abreu, who at the time served as a federal lawmaker for the state of Morelos, a Wal-Mart summary of the accusations stated. It was released Jan. 10 by Democratic Representatives Henry Waxman of California and Elijah Cummings of Maryland, whose staff is investigating the lawyer’s allegations.
The accusations by attorney Sergio Cicero Zapata, who alleged Ramirez was “the main contact person” to speed needed permissions from the Urban Development Ministry, came in a summary of an Oct. 13, 2005 meeting with the retailer’s officials. Cicero, a 28-year veteran of the company, told them he set up the bribery scheme while employed by Wal-Mart. He was forced out in 2004 after colleagues questioned his oversight of payments to consultants in company-related real-estate deals.
