The maker of expensive business software, which no one is sure what it does, SAP, has been slapped with a £159 million fine after admitting to paying bribes to officials in seven countries.
The US authorities accused SAP of breaking the law by using middlemen to grease the palms of government officials in South Africa, Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Indonesia and Azerbaijan.
SAP confessed to the dodgy dealings, which took place between 2014 and 2022 and agreed to cough up the cash to settle the charges.
The US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) said SAP had cheated honest businesses by securing lucrative contracts with public sector customers through bribery.
The DOJ revealed how SAP had paid off officials at state-owned enterprises in South Africa and Indonesia to get their business.
SAP tried to cover up the bribes by recording them as legitimate expenses in its books, even though some middlemen could not prove they had done any work for SAP.
The SEC said SAP had failed to control the third parties and its subsidiaries properly.
SAP issued a statement saying it was sorry for its misconduct and had cooperated fully with the authorities.
SAP said it had sacked all the people involved in the bribery schemes more than five years ago and had improved its compliance program and internal controls.
SAP said it had zero tolerance for corruption and was committed to the highest standards of ethics and compliance.
The US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Jessica Aber, said SAP had taken responsibility for its corrupt practices and that the US would continue to prosecute bribery cases to protect fair competition.
SAP agreed to stop breaking the anti-bribery, record-keeping and internal accounting control laws to settle the SEC charges. SAP will pay penalties including £61 million, plus £9.6 million interest. The SEC said this would be reduced by £42 million, which SAP will pay the South African government for its investigations.
As part of the global settlement, SAP will also pay the DOJ a £85 million criminal fine and give up about £74 million, of which £61 million will be counted as part of the SEC payment.
