US retail giant Wal-Mart 'bribed Mexicans to open shops'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Wal-Mart, the US retail giant, could face fines of billions of dollars, as allegations emerged its Mexican affiliate paid officials to speed up store openings.
In a report published this week, The New York Times claimed the world’s biggest retailer opened at least 19 stores in Mexico after paying bribes worth hundreds of thousands of dollars so as to ignore local regulations. If the company were found guilty under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, its settlement could dwarf the $800m paid by Siemens in 2008, the biggest FCPA pay-out to date.
The Times investigation uncovered evidence that in 2003, Wal-Mart de Mexico was blocked from building a supermarket in an alfalfa field in San Juan Teotihuacan. The company paid an official $52,000, and the store was built – within sight of the famous Teotihuacan pyramids. Teotihuacan’s mayor, Guillermo Rodriguez, told investigators his 2004 salary was $47,000 and that he had no savings, yet in the same year he bought a $30,300 ranch in cash, and spent a further $47,700 on refurbishments.
With the help of an alleged $765,000 in bribes, the company also constructed a refrigerated distribution centre in an “environmentally fragile” area, where other, smaller developers had been denied similar opportunities. When archaeologists found ancient ruins on Wal-Mart’s Teotihuacan site, including an altar, a plaza and nine graves, construction was halted, but only temporarily. The store opened in November 2004.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments