Raytheon to pay $950 mn over fraud, bribery schemes: US

Raytheon, a subsidiary of major American defense contractor RTX, will pay more than $950 million to resolve fraud and bribery charges, the US Justice Department announced Wednesday.

"Raytheon engaged in criminal schemes to defraud the US government in connection with contracts for critical military systems and to win business through bribery in Qatar," Deputy Assistant Attorney General Kevin Driscoll said in a Justice Department statement.

The company has agreed to enter into two three-year deferred prosecution agreements, the Justice Department said, in which criminal charges will be dismissed if Raytheon complies with the terms of the deal during that period.

The agency also said that from the 2000s into 2020, Raytheon paid more than $30 million to a Qatari agent who was a relative of the Qatari Emir and who had no prior background in military defense contracting.

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"RTX is taking responsibility for the misconduct that occurred. We have worked diligently during the investigations to remediate that misconduct and continue to do so," the company, which was formed by the merger of Raytheon and United Technologies in 2020, said in a statement.

"We are committed to working closely with the incoming independent monitor to improve and further enhance our ethics and compliance program."

As part of one agreement, Raytheon admitted to "two separate schemes to defraud the Department of Defense (DOD) in connection with the provision of defense articles and services, including PATRIOT missile systems and a radar system," the Justice Department said.

The other agreement relates to two counts stemming from a scheme to bribe a Qatari official and then failing to disclose those bribes in an application to the State Department.

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"Both agreements require that Raytheon retain an independent compliance monitor for three years, enhance its internal compliance program, report evidence of additional misconduct to the Justice Department, and cooperate in any ongoing or future criminal investigations," the statement said.

"Raytheon also reached a separate False Claims Act settlement with the department relating to the defective pricing schemes," it added.

In a separate statement, the Securities and Exchange Commission, which assisted in the investigation, said Raytheon used sham subcontracts with a supplier to pay bribes of nearly $2 million to military and other officials from 2011 to 2017 to obtain Qatari military defense contracts.

The agency also said that from the 2000s into 2020, Raytheon paid more than $30 million to a Qatari agent who was a relative of the Qatari Emir and who had no prior background in military defense contracting.

Raytheon has "agreed to pay more than $124 million to resolve charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act," the SEC said.

Source: AFP