US manufacturer Honeywell to pay $200 million to settle bribery charges

The parallel investigations were for bribes Honeywell paid between 2010 and 2014 to obtain business from Brazil’s Petrobras.

US manufacturer Honeywell International Inc said it has agreed to pay about $200 million to resolve criminal and civil corruption investigations in the United States and Brazil.

The US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced Monday the resolution of parallel investigations related to bribes that Honeywell paid between 2010 and 2014 to a senior official at the state oil company. Brazilian Petrobras to secure business.

The SEC charges also relate to payments Honeywell’s Belgian subsidiary made to an Algerian government official in 2011. Those bribes involved Monaco-based oil consultancy Unaoil, which was previously indicted by global authorities for a 17-year scheme to pay bribes to officials in nine countries.

Honeywell Chairman and CEO Darius Adamczyk said the company is “pleased” to have resolved the matter, noting that it had received credit for full cooperation.

About $160 million of the total amount Honeywell said it will pay will go toward US civil and criminal penalties.

Later Monday, the Brazilian government confirmed Honeywell’s statement, saying the company would pay about 638 million reais ($120 million) to settle the case, with about 70 percent going to Petrobras.

US prosecutors have agreed to defer potential prosecution against the company for three years in exchange for a criminal penalty of about $79 million and a promise of continued cooperation in any further investigation, among other things, the Justice Department said.

“This case exemplifies corporate misconduct globally,” said US Attorney Alamdar S Hamdani for the Southern District of Texas.

Honeywell has agreed to pay another $81 million civil penalty to settle the SEC’s charges, though almost half of it is expected to be offset by payments made to Brazilian authorities, the SEC said.