Biomet Settles With SEC, DoJ Over Foreign Bribery Charges
Indiana-based Biomet faces separate Securities and Exchange Commission and Justice Department charges of violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in connection with allegedly bribing doctors in Argentina, Brazil and China for more than a decade in order to get more business.
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The Justice Department said more than $1.5 million in direct and indirect payments were made.
Biomet agreed to pay more than $22 million to settle the SEC charges and the parallel DoJ case, which arise from DOJ's ongoing investigation of bribery by medical device companies. The SEC complaint said the company paid kickbacks as high as 15 to 20 percent of each sale to doctors, and used phony invoices to justify the payments as consulting fees or commissions.
Biomet also agreed to retain an independent consultant for 18 months to monitor its compliance with FCPA.