GE in Regulatory Hot Water

Three Former General Electric Bankers Are Indicted in Bid-Rigging Inquiry
Three former bankers with a General Electric Co. unit that sold investment contracts to state and local governments were indicted for conspiring to rig bidding to profit at taxpayers’ expense, the Justice Department said today.
Dominick P. Carollo, Steven E. Goldberg and Peter S. Grimm, all of whom once worked for finance units of General Electric, were charged with fraud and conspiracy, the Justice Department said. The three allegedly worked with brokers hired by local governments to solicit competitive bids for investment deals, in order to win the bidding and increase their profits.
“The individuals charged today allegedly participated in complex fraud schemes and conspiracies to manipulate what was supposed to be a competitive process,” Christine Varney, assistant attorney general in charge of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, said in a statement

GE to settle SEC charges of foreign bribery
General Electric agreed to pay $23.4 million on Tuesday to settle a Securities and Exchange Commission complaint, which alleges that GE bribed Iraqi government officials to win contracts to supply medical and water-purification equipment under the U.N. oil-for-food program.
The SEC alleges that two GE subsidiaries and two companies that the conglomerate later acquired paid $3.6 million in kickbacks to the Iraqi Health Ministry and Iraqi Oil Ministry for valuable contracts. The bribes, which are illegal under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, came in the form of cash, computer equipment, medical supplies and services, the SEC said.
The SEC alleges that two GE subsidiaries and two companies that the conglomerate later acquired paid $3.6 million in kickbacks to the Iraqi Health Ministry and Iraqi Oil Ministry for valuable contracts. The bribes, which are illegal under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, came in the form of cash, computer equipment, medical supplies and services, the SEC said.