The U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission have requested information from the Public Safety communications giant Motorola Solutions about their transactions in seven European countries from the past two years. The company is reportedly being investigated regarding bribery allegations.
According to Forbes.com sources say the investigating agencies are searching for evidence that of violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, meant to prevent American companies from offering bribes to officials of foreign governments.
The company opened up its own investigation in 2009 of possible bribery mispractices, sparked by a suspicious transaction in Turkey. U.S. officials began their investigation shortly after, now focusing on the business dealings in Europe.
Motorola Solutions has not been subpoenaed and is voluntarily providing information. Part of the investigation is focused on an bribery allegations involving an Austrian lobbyist and count, in relation to BAE Systems. Authorities are looking into whether the lobbyist was involved with paying a bribe to win a contract on behalf of Motorola in 2004.
The penalty for violating the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is a hefty fine, and with recent questions about Motorola dominating the Public Safety communications industry, the company's reputation will be further damaged by another question of its ethics.
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