Lawmakers: Wal-Mart CEO knew about Mexican bribes
by January 10, 2013 11:37 am 88 views
Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke is again on the hot seat with documents released by two lawmakers Thursday (Jan. 10) that indicate Duke was made aware of the Mexican bribery actions as early as 2005.
The retail giant insists there is no new information in the documents released today and says it continues to work diligently with all of the investigating parties.
“The letter from Congressmen Henry Waxman and Elijah Cummings leaves the wrong impression that our public statements are contradicted by the information they released today. The fact is, the chronology of events relied upon in their letter is inaccurate. The company statement referenced in their letter that appeared in the December, 2012 New York Times story focused on events in 2004. The emails attached to the letter were sent almost a year later,” according to a statement released by Wal-Mart Thursday afternoon.
Shares of Wal-Mart stock reacted slightly to the announcement made Thursday morning dipping about 1% trading iaround $67.90 in the afternoon session.
Cummings and Waxmen, who are investigating bribery charges at Wal-Mart, said they have documents that state Duke was informed about the bribery allegations several times.
The documents – more than 30 pages – are believed to have been sent from Mexican government, also investigating the matter, according to CNBC.
The lawmakers said they have sent a letter to Duke in hopes of discussing the incriminating documents.
Wal-Mart also released the following statement regarding the lawmakers’ letter: “There is no new information in the letter released today by Congressman Waxman and Congressman Cummings. This information has been part of the company’s ongoing investigation of potential violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for more than a year and has been the subject of two New York Times articles.
"We have provided extensive documentation to the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the documents released today, as part of our ongoing cooperation with the appropriate law enforcement agencies on this matter.
"We want to provide members of Congress with whatever appropriate information we can to help them and we have already provided committee staff with multiple briefings. We are exploring ways to make additional information available and are committed to doing whatever we can to appropriately address their requests, consistent with maintaining the integrity of the ongoing federal investigation.
"We are committed to having a strong and effective global anti-corruption program everywhere we operate and taking appropriate action for any instance of non-compliance.”