German major truck company accused of bribery through BVI companies
German prosecutors are investigating the case of alleged bribery at German truck maker MAN AG. In connection with this case, more than 100 people are already under investigation, and two were arrested last week. They are alleged to have paid “bribes characterized as commission payments” to employees of MAN customers, sometimes via the accounts of relatives and friends, they said in a statement.
Munich prosecutors who launched the investigation and searched MAN’s offices last week, said they suspect that a “system to boost sales of trucks and buses” took place in Germany, and kickbacks were paid to promote sales of MAN trucks and buses in many countries.
The persons arrested and suspected are said to have funneled the money via front companies in the British Virgin Islands, Malta, the Bahamas, Cyprus, London and New York, or paid cash to crooked buyers to induce orders. The bribes were often paid to relatives or friends of purchasing executives, and had the purpose to secure sales of big amounts of heavy vehicles to big organizations.
The scheme is suggested to have worked from 2002 till 2009, longer than the 2002-2005 period mentioned last week. It was said that the total amount of the payments abroad was 13 mln euros, 1 milion was paid inside Germany.
The allegations of bribery at MAN follow a high-scale corruption scandal at Siemens, which took place last year and was connected with making dubious payments to secure business. However, it was said by the spokesman for Munich prosecutors that the proceedings of this company cannot be compared with the Siemens proceedings by their scale.
In its turn, Munich-based MAN has said that it will give its full support to the investigation, and informed that its policies specifically prohibited the payment of bribes. An internal audit two years ago found irregularities regarding payment transactions in individual cases. MAN Group has announced it is co-operating with the inquiry, and none of the current members of MAN’s management board were among the suspects.