Panasonic "stick" penalty $ 280 million in the US because of fraudulent accounting

Japan's electronics giant said on Friday it had agreed to pay a fine of $ 280 million to settle with the US government regarding allegations that Panasonic had forged a financial report to cover Hide payments for sales agents in Asian countries.

Earlier, the US Department of Justice and the District Court of Columbia have made the allegations against Panasonic Avionics Corp., a subsidiary of Panasonic, that designs airplane systems. The Justice Department has agreed to postpone the prosecution of Panasonic Avionics. In return, the company will have to pay more than $ 137 million in criminal fines and $ 143 million to settle civil charges against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which is responsible for investigating Violations against bribery laws. The SEC's civil allegations against Panasonic Avionics include fraudulent accounting. According to the US Department of Justice, Panasonic Avionics is a crime committed from 2007 to 2013. Typically, the incident took place in July 2007, when Panasonic paid a foreign official the money. US $ 875,000 during the six years to earn contracts with airlines. But these are still accounted for in Panasonic Avionics books as payments for legal consulting services. In recent years, the US Department of Justice has granted leniency to businesses if they confessed illegal payments to foreign officials. In the case of the Panasonic Avionics, however, the ministry said it was not until the SEC began investigating the company that it confessed.