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Russia raids HP offices at German request

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CIOL Bureau
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MOSCOW, RUSSIA: Russian prosecutors on Wednesday raided the Moscow offices of top global PC maker Hewlett-Packard Co at the behest of German authorities.

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The Wall Street Journal reported that German and Russian authorities were looking into whether HP executives had paid millions in bribes to win a 35 million euro contract in Russia.

Citing unidentified people familiar with the matter, the newspaper said prosecutors are investigating whether the world's largest maker of personal computers had tried to bribe its way toward winning a contract to supply criminal prosecutors' office in Russia.

HP, saying only that a probe was under way, would not confirm specific charges but on Wednesday distanced itself from any potential fallout as a result.

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"This is an investigation of alleged conduct that occurred almost seven years ago, largely by employees no longer with HP," the company said in a statement.

"We are cooperating fully with the German and Russian authorities and will continue to conduct our own internal investigation."

The company did not elaborate.

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According to the Journal, German prosecutors are looking into whether HP officials paid about 8 million euros in bribes to win a contract, under which the company sold computer equipment to Russia's office of the prosecutor general through a German subsidiary.

"Investigative actions are being carried out as part of an international legal assistance assignment that has come from competent authorities in the Federal Republic of Germany," the investigative committee of the prosecutor generals' office said.

The prosecutor general's office handles the country's criminal prosecutions -- including many corruption cases, the Journal added.

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German authorities are investigating whether HP executives funnelled suspected bribes through a variety of shell companies and accounts in a number of countries, the report said, citing documents submitted to a German court.

The story also noted that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requires public companies to disclose important investigations, but that HP has not reported the German probe in its SEC filings.

"We are offering full support to the investigation by the investigative committee," said HP spokeswoman Olga Ekkert.

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