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FRAUD

Siemens fined $100 mln in fraud scandal

German industrial giant Siemens will pay $100 million over 15 years into a fund to fight corruption after probes revealed fraud at its subsidiaries, the World Bank said.

Siemens fined $100 mln in fraud scandal
Photo: DPA

Siemens has also agreed not to bid for business from the Washington-based World Bank for two years as part of its punishment following the anti-corruption investigations.

“The World Bank Group today announced a comprehensive settlement with Siemens… in the wake of the company’s acknowledged past misconduct in its global business and a World Bank investigation into corruption in a project in Russia involving a Siemens subsidiary,” the bank said on Thursday.

The World Bank added: “As part of the settlement, Siemens has also agreed to co-operate to change industry practices, clean up procurement practices and engage in collective action with the World Bank Group to fight fraud and corruption.”

The 161-year-old conglomerate with activities from nuclear power stations to trains and light bulbs has acknowledged that up to €1.3 billion ($1.8 billion dollars) may have been used illegally to win foreign contracts.

Siemens, which employs some 400,000 people worldwide, found in an internal investigation that the practice was widespread across its numerous divisions.

“This settlement provides significant consequences for past wrongdoing by Siemens,” said Leonard McCarthy, Integrity Vice President at the World Bank.

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BUSINESS

French court hands Amazon €90,000-per-day fine over contracts

French authorities on Wednesday slapped a €90,000-per-day fine on e-commerce giant Amazon until it removes abusive clauses in its contracts with businesses using its platform to sell their goods.

French court hands Amazon €90,000-per-day fine over contracts

The anti-fraud Direction générale de la concurrence, de la consommation et de la répression des fraudes (DGCCRF) service said the online sales giant’s contracts with third-party sellers who use its Amazon.fr website contain “unbalanced” clauses.

“The company Amazon Services Europe did not comply completely with an injunction it was served and it is now subject to a fine of €90,000 per day of delay” in applying the changes, the DGCCRF said in a statement.

It also urged the platform to conform with European rules on equity and transparency for firms using online platforms.

Amazon said the order would harm consumers.

“The changes imposed by the DGCCRF will stop us from effectively protecting consumers and permit bad actors to set excessive prices or spam our clients with commercial offers,” the e-commerce giant said in a statement.

“We will comply with the DGCCRF’s decision but we absolutely do not understand it and we are challenging it in court,” responded the e-commerce giant in a statement.

Amazon said the clauses that the DGCCRF has ordered removed had, for example “prevented the appearance of exorbitant prices for mask and hydroalcoholic gel during the pandemic”.

In 2019, Amazon was fined €4 million for “manifestly unbalanced” contract clauses with third-party sellers on its site in a case brought by the DGCCRF.

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