BERLIN — German prosecutors probing whether officials from US computer giant Hewlett-Packard shelled out millions in bribes to win contracts in Russia said Friday they have nine suspects in their cross hairs.
"Nine people are being targeted in this enquiry, six in Germany and three in Russia," Wolfgang Klein, a spokesman for prosecutors in the eastern city of Dresden, told AFP.
Klein said they were probing whether HP executives paid some eight million euros (10.8 million dollars) in bribes to win a 35-million-euro contract to sell equipment, through a German subsidiary, to Russia's prosecutor general.
Three of the suspects in Germany were HP employees, the three other suspects ran partner companies.
In December, German authorities arrested three of the six suspects in Germany in connection with the investigation but were released on bail.
On Wednesday, authorities in Moscow searched the offices of HP's Russian subsidiary, acting on a request from Germany.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is also investigating whether HP committed any civil violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
"This probe is independent to ours. They have not contacted us yet, but I expect that will soon happen," he said.
"We know that eight million euros was paid out, but we do not know to whom," he added.
The money seems to have been moved through a network of shell companies and accounts in Britain, Austria, Switzerland, the British Virgin Islands, Belize, New Zealand, Latvia and Lithuania, the prosecutor said.
On Thursday, an HP spokesperson confirmed to AFP that the company has been in touch with the SEC but declined further comment.
"HP has been in communication with the SEC and will continue to fully cooperate with the authorities investigating this matter," the spokesperson said.
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