(Updates with SEC and DOJ declined to comment)
By Samuel Rubenfeld
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) said Monday that Polish anticorruption
investigators joined a U.S. probe into allegations of potential
foreign-bribery violations by the technology company.
The Palo Alto, Calif.-based firm said in a securities filing
that the Polish Central Anti-Corruption Bureau joined the U.S.
Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission in
investigating an employee of a Polish unit "in connection with
certain public-sector transactions" in Poland for potential
violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
The FCPA bars the use of bribes to foreign officials for
business purposes. H-P disclosed the U.S. investigation in 2010.
Other tech companies have disclosed investigations and settled
cases over the past several years.
H-P said the U.S. agencies are also investigating "certain other
public-sector transactions" in Russia, Poland, the Commonwealth of
Independent States, Mexico and "other countries" it didn't
name.
The company said in the filing it's cooperating with the
investigating agencies. Both the Justice Department and SEC
declined to comment, saying they would neither confirm nor deny
whether a matter is under investigation.
Write to Samuel Rubenfeld at Samuel.Rubenfeld@wsj.com. Follow
him on Twitter at @srubenfeld
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