Multinationals bribing Russian officials under investigation

Deere & Co., the world's largest farm equipment producer, entered the list of multinationals investigated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission for violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in its dealings with CIS countries. Russian officials seem to have benefited most from bribes paid by such companies for contracts.
Mercedes-Benz, Siemens and Hewlett-Packard are also among companies that have previousely faced investigations into their operations in Russia in recent years. Mercedes-Benz Russia paid a $27.26 million fine for conspiring to violate as well as violating the corruption act. Siemens confirmed bribing and paid $1.6 billion to settle the issue. The Hewlett-Packard investigation is ongoing.
The Securities and Exchange Commission avoided to provide details in the Deere & Co. case that is, for the moment, a non-public fact-finding inquiry aimed at clarifying if the company violated any federal securities laws does not mean that the commission has concluded that the company has broken the law.

The list of persons bribed by multinationals in Russia included officials from the Interior Ministry, Moscow government and several other municipalities.