WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department says German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom and Hungary’s Magyar Telekom have agreed to pay more than $95 million to end a long-running bribery investigation.
The department said Thursday that the two companies were charged under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in connection with Magyar Telekom’s activities in Macedonia and Montenegro. Deutsche Telekom is majority owner of the Hungarian firm.
The agreements include $64 million in criminal penalties, a $31 million civil penalty imposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department’s decision to forgo prosecution of the companies if they abide by U.S. law for the next two years.
The Justice Department filed criminal charges in Alexandria, Virginia. The SEC sued the companies in federal court in New York.