WALMART BUST ON MEXICAN BRIBES THE FIRST OF MANY PROSECUTIONS OF PUBLICLY TRADED COMPANIES

Allegations revealed this week that WalMart paid off Mexican government officials to speed zoning and other permits to expand in that nation may be just the first in a number of U.S. prosecutions of publicly traded companies giving bribes in a nation where bribes are a way of doing business. Sunday, the New York Times wrote an extensive story about the alleged Walmart bribes in which it said that credible evidence was found that bribes paid a persistent and significant role in Wal-Mart’s rapid growth in Mexico where it now employs over 209,000 people. Today the Washington Post stated that the pressure of corruption in Mexico is so great that many companies have reportedly opted to leave. The Times obtained hundreds of internal documents tracing the bribes and found that permits were given within weeks and days of Wal-Mart Mexico’s payments to two individuals. Two U.S. congressmen announced they wee opening a probe.