Alcatel-Lucent pays $137m to settle bribery case

Alcatel-Lucent has agreed to pay a fine levied by US authorities to settle charges of bribery in Asia and Latin America.

The French telecommunications firm will pay $137m (£88.5m) to settle the case. The company and three of its subsidiaries channelled over $8m of bribes via consultants to government officials in Costa Rica, Honduras, Malaysia and Taiwan in order to win or retain contracts, according to statements released on Monday by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the US Department of Justice (DoJ).

Alcatel admitted it made around $48.1m in profits as a result of the corrupt payments, said the DoJ. The payouts were carried out between December 2001 and June 2006, prior to Alcatel's merger with Lucent Technologies.

For more on this ZDNet UK-selected story, see Alcatel-Lucent settles US bribery charges on ZDNet Asia.