General Cable to pay $75 m to settle bribery charges

General Cable Corp, a Kentucky-based wire manufacturer, agreed to pay more than $75 million to resolve allegations that it had bribed officials in Angola, Bangladesh and China, the US Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission said on Thursday.

The company admitted its executives knew outside agents bribed officials in order to win business, according to the agreement signed with the US Justice Department. The company agreed to pay a $20 million penalty to settle the Justice Department’s bribery allegations.

Separately, General Cable agreed to pay $6.5 million to settle a related US Securities and Exchange Commission investigation, the agency said in a statement. The company also agreed to surrender $51 million in profits it made from the schemes.

The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act makes it a crime for companies to bribe overseas officials to win business.

General Cable said in a statement that it had cooperated with US authorities and voluntarily disclosed the issues.

The Justice Department said it agreed to a more lenient penalty with General Cable because the company came forward and disclosed the misconduct to authorities.

Over the past year, the Justice Department has encouraged companies to disclose bribery allegations by offering lighter penalties if they fully cooperate.