Daimler units plead guilty in U.S. to paying bribes

Two Daimler AG units pleaded guilty to violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, as part of an agreement with prosecutors to resolve allegations the German carmaker paid bribes to foreign officials.

Lawyers for the units, DaimlerChrysler Automotive Russia SAO and Daimler Export and Trade Finance GmbH entered the pleas today before U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington.

Both subsidiaries, based in Russia and Germany respectively, pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the FCPA, and to violating its anti-bribery provisions.

"We will do everything we can to maintain the highest compliance standards," Dieter Zetsche, chairman of Daimler, said in a statement.

"These companies have gotten the message and have taken the right steps to solve the problem," Leon said in accepting the plea agreement.

Daimler AG, the Stuttgart-based maker of Mercedes cars and trucks, earlier this month agreed to pay $93.6 million fine to settle the criminal probe, in exchange for which the U.S. Justice Department would defer prosecution against it, according to papers filed in the Washington court. A Chinese subsidiary also agreed to a deferred prosecution agreement. Both companies avoided guilty pleas under the deal.

Includes Penalties

The Daimler fine includes the penalties imposed on the two foreign subsidiaries that pleaded guilty today. The pending charges against Daimler and the Chinese subsidiary would be dropped if the company does not violate the FCPA in the next two years.

The automaker will also pay $91.4 million to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

In federal court today, prosecutor John Darden outlined how the two subsidiaries paid bribes to Russian and Croatian government officials in order to secure contracts to sell cars and trucks.