Vast Mexico Bribery Case Hushed Up by Wal-Mart

[Boingo-boingo]

From the NY Times

MEXICO CITY — In September 2005, a senior Wal-Mart lawyer received an alarming e-mail from a former executive at the company’s largest foreign subsidiary, Wal-Mart de Mexico. In the e-mail and follow-up conversations, the former executive described how Wal-Mart de Mexico had orchestrated a campaign of bribery to win market dominance. In its rush to build stores, he said, the company had paid bribes to obtain permits in virtually every corner of the country.

The former executive gave names, dates and bribe amounts. He knew so much, he explained, because for years he had been the lawyer in charge of obtaining construction permits for Wal-Mart de Mexico.

Wal-Mart dispatched investigators to Mexico City, and within days they unearthed evidence of widespread bribery. They found a paper trail of hundreds of suspect payments totaling more than $24 million. They also found documents showing that Wal-Mart de Mexico’s top executives not only knew about the payments, but had taken steps to conceal them from Wal-Mart’s headquarters in Bentonville, Ark. In a confidential report to his superiors, Wal-Mart’s lead investigator, a former F.B.I. special agent, summed up their initial findings this way: “There is reasonable suspicion to believe that Mexican and USA laws have been violated.”

Read the whole story.

[Randy]

And with the drug war having killed thousands and sometimes spilling into the US and the ongoing horrendous immigration issues this is a big problem because?

[Boingo-boingo]

In Reply to Parent Post by Randy

And with the drug war having killed thousands and sometimes spilling into the US and the ongoing horrendous immigration issues this is a big problem because?

Are you implying that corporate-endorsed corruption is not a problem? A big one?

And PS. Drug war? What drug war? They are just supplying a demand. Why can't people understand that, until we address the demand issue for illicit drugs, THERE IS NO POSSIBLE WAY to stop the fight for distribution channels. Where is the highest demand for mind altering drugs? Somewhere north of Mexico and south of Canada.....

[Randy]

One mans corruption is anothers accepted business practice.


Spoken as a consumer past or present?

[Marc]

I mean, heck... They call *everything* a "war" these days. War against obesity. War against women. War against <insert "cause" here>.

Yup - The US is a consumer nation. A "war" against things like drugs can never be "won", but throwing in the word "war" does get some people's adrenalin up no matter what the issue.

[Randy]

We were in the "war" when I got into law enforcement 40 years ago and ya know what, we're getting our butts kicked.

I've still got a couple souveniers of the "war" in my right leg

[Marc]

Well, it has gained MSM (main stream media) prominence: Watchdog group accuses Wal-Mart of bribing Mexican officials

In the US it's the "K Street Lobbyists" and the pentagon and - Well, the list of influence and the bribes paid never cease. What are "PACs"? What are "Super PACs"? Bribery. What is "foreign aid"? Bribery.

Cut funding for schools and all that, but send pallets of US $100 bills to war zones for - Well, what ever. It's all bribery.

[Randy]

Oh hech yeah, anyone want to speculate about Opium and Afghanistan? Just a recreation of the "Golden Triangle".

The end result of the "French Connection" was only temporary. If we were serious we would napalm every poppy field in Afghanistan and then "salt" the earth....What woulkd their government do other than grit their teeth and call us bad names (again) Qrap, we're the only reasons the present government is in place....But that dog don't hunt!