By Jeffrey Johnston, Yousri Omar, and Britt Cass Steckman

On December 13, 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice sent shockwaves through the business community when it indicted eight former senior executive and agents of Siemens AG for conspiracy to violate the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 and other charges. The indictment charges the defendants with bribing Argentine government officials over a period of decades in return for a $1 billion dollar contract for production of national identification cards. The indictment alleges that the conspirators agreed to pay nearly $100 million in bribes during the bidding and implementation stages of the project and then paid more bribes later to try to avoid the project’s termination. The indictment also alleges the conspirators’ use of a complicated series of bank transfers, smuggled cash, and offshore shell companies to conceal the payments. The individuals charged included a former Siemens board member and other high-level executives, such as the CEO and CFO of Siemens Argentina. Read the entire article here.