Diagnostics Maker Bio-Rad Settles FCPA Case Involving Overseas Sales

Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc. agreed to pay a $14.3 million penalty to resolve allegations of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), according to a Nov. 3 statement from the Department of Justice.

Bio-Rad, a medical diagnostics and life sciences manufacturer based in Hercules, Calif., admitted a French subsidiary paid and kept commissions of between 15 percent and 30 percent from intermediary companies for services related to governmental sales in Russia.

The intermediaries provided little or no service for the commissions, however, which was known by certain managers at Bio-Rad who falsified accounting records of the French subsidiary. Other Bio-Rad managers ...