Translated from NOS TV in the Netherlands:
Philips in Poland suspected of bribery
Added: Tuesday, May 17, 2011, 6:01
By reporter Gert-Jan Dennekamp and Marc Bessant
Philips employees in Poland are accused of systematically bribing hospital administrators. The coming months three former executives of Philips will be on trial in Poland on charges of bribery. The Polish prosecutor suspects the electronics group of setting up a special fund for bribes. This shows from documents in the possession of the NOS and the Financieele Dagblad daily.
“All profits of Philips in Poland have been obtained by crime,” said a witness for the Polish public prosecutor, Marian Kulig. He worked as a broker and delivered Philips CT scanners and other equipment to hospitals.
Kulig said he had distributed more than one million euros in bribes. That money was partly from the Philips plant in Hamburg, which, according to the Polish prosecutor’s, managed the special fund of bribery money.
Quarrel
Between 2000 and 2007, Kulig bribed hospital managers. The directors then changed the technical requirements in their contracts so that only Philips equipment would fit. The equipment was then delivered through Kulig’s company or by Philips itself.
After he fell out with the Polish Philips bosses, Kulig in 2007 went with his accusations to the Polish public prosecutor’s. On June 13 23 people, including three Philips executives, will stand trial at the court in Katowice.
The bosses now no longer work for Philips. Philips acknowledges the investigation, but does not want to comment with the trial pending.
Investigation in the U.S.
The company also launched its own investigation because the American justice department has asked Philips for clarification on this matter.
The headquarters of the medical department of Philips are in the U.S.A. The past two years the government there has focused mainly on addressing corruption in the medical sector.
This case could have major financial implications for Philips. In investigations into other companies, U.S. Justice has imposed big fines. Thus in 2008, Siemens received a record fine of 600 million U.S. dollars more, according to The Guardian
for bribing public officials. This spring the medical company Johnson & Johnson was fined $ 70,000,000.
According to the New York Times, $81 million.
UPDATE: according to StatCounter, people at the Groenendael Philips Management Training Center in Amsterdam have read this blog post. It is to be hoped that it will stimulate them to do something against this culture of corruption.
UPDATE 18 May 2011: also Philips kickbacks in other east European countries?
Philips medical branch accused of fraud in Brazil: here.
Viji Sundaram, New America Media: “U.S. pharmaceutical companies have moved their operations overseas in the past decade, testing their drugs on poor people in such lands as Russia, China, Brazil and Romania… One country that has experienced a boom like no other in this industry is India, with its widely spoken English, an established medical infrastructure and welcoming attitudes towards foreign industry. Most importantly, these pharmaceutical companies are exploiting the country’s vast number of illiterate and poor people who are willing to become guinea pigs”.
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Top brass told to declare incomes
China: Beijing is ordering ranking military officers to declare their personal incomes and property such as real estate in an ongoing attempt to rein in rampant corruption.
State media reports Friday said that all investments must be disclosed in a standard declaration required of all leading officers.
Army officers enjoy numerous perks such as license plates that exempt them from fines and tolls.
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/news/content/view/full/120538
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Polish miners mount 24-hour strike
Polish miners held a 24-hour strike October 19. The strike, which began at Jastrzebska Spolka Weglowa SA (JSW SA), is due to a disagreement with the management board regarding the introduction of new labour contracts for newly hired employees and wages.
Management intends to impose contracts violating the national labour law as well as the previous agreement with unions, including an agreement signed in May concerning the privatisation of JSW SA.
According to IndustriALL Global Union, “The union demands withdrawal of unfavourable contracts for new employees and an increase of salaries by 3.8 percent. The company declared 50 percent of workers participated in the strike and announced Z17 million (€4.1 million) losses in revenues as a direct result of the strike. The union dismisses the data as unreliable….”
The JSW Group is the largest producer of high-quality coking coal and an important coke producer in the European Union. By the end of 2011, the group employed almost 30,000 workers.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/nov2012/wkrs-n02.shtml
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