Albemarle to pay $218 million to settle bribery case in Indonesia, Vietnam

Jakarta, Indonesianpost.com – Albemarle Corp will pay more than $218 million, including more than $103 million to financial regulators, to settle a US probe into its scheme to bribe government officials in multiple foreign countries, the Department of Justice said on Friday.

As part of the resolution, the global chemical company admitted to using third parties “to pay bribes to government officials to obtain and retain chemical catalyst business with state-owned oil refineries in Vietnam, Indonesia, and India,” taking in $98.5 million in profits, the department said.

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It also agreed to continue to cooperate with the Justice Department “in any ongoing or future criminal investigations relating to this conduct,” it added.

“Albemarle’s eventual voluntary disclosure of fraud and subsequent efforts to remedy its business practices abroad is a step in the right direction for the company,” US Attorney Dena King for the Western District of North Carolina said in a statement.