Goodyear Fined $16M|for African Bribes

WASHINGTON (CN) - Goodyear will pay $16.2 million to settle charges of bribing Kenyan and Angolan officials to get tire contracts, the SEC said Tuesday.

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. agreed to the cease-and-desist order and fine without admitting wrongdoing.

The $16.2 million fine comes to about 7 hours income for Goodyear, which reported $19.5 billion income in 2013.

Goodyear and its subsidiaries paid more than $3.2 million in bribes during 4 years, usually in cash, to government-owned businesses and agencies, local officials such as police and city councilors, and to private companies as well.

"Goodyear's lax compliance controls enabled a routine of corrupt payments by African subsidiaries that were hidden in their books," the SEC's associate director of enforcement said in a statement.

It was fined under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

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