U.S. District Judge Richard Leon approved the plea and compared it, calling it a « fair solution » and saying the company is taking the right steps to solve past problems. These investigations ended with Daimler agreeing in 2010 to pay US$185 million and enter into a law enforcement agreement with the Department of Justice, which included the shutdown of an independent monitor to monitor the company`s progress in implementing strict internal controls. As part of its agreement on adjourned prosecutions, DCCL admitted that it had made inappropriate payments in the form of commissions, delegation missions and gifts to Chinese government officials or their representatives in connection with the sale of commercial vehicles and Unimogs to various Chinese government customers. DCCL has admitted that, in some cases, it uses U.S.-based agents to facilitate bribe payments. At a hearing today before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon in the District of Columbia, Daimler AG, a Russian subsidiary DaimlerChrysler Automotive Russia SAO (DCAR), now known as Mercedes-Benz Russia SAO, and its German subsidiary, Export and Trade Finance GmbH (ETF), guilty of criminal information, charged the companies with one count of conspiracy against the anti-corruption provisions of the FCPA. As part of the appeal agreements, DCAR and ETF agreed to impose fines of US$27.26 million, or US$29.12 million.
The policing agreements of Daimler AG and Daimler North East Asia Ltd. provide that no further violations of the FCPA will be found during the two-year term of the contracts and that a full compliance program will be maintained. This programme aims, among other things, to ensure compliance with anti-corruption laws such as the FCPA. If the terms of the deferred prosecution agreements are successfully met, the appeals against Daimler AG and Daimler North East Asia Ltd. will be dismissed without further action. The Department of Justice last year extended the deadline for the deferred lawsuit agreement, a step the agency would not dwell on, but Daimler said at the time that the concept of the transaction should be aligned « closer to the monitor`s verification period. » The monitor`s review period and the deferred period of the policing agreement were recently finalized. As part of its deferred policing agreement, Daimler AG agreed to maintain an independent compliance monitor for a period of three years to monitor the continued implementation and maintenance of a fcpa compliance program and to report to the company and the Department of Justice. DCAR, ETF and DCCL are covered by the supervisory provisions of the deferred prosecution agreement with their parent company, Daimler AG. Daimler AG has also agreed to cooperate fully with investigations by U.S. and foreign authorities into the company`s corrupt payments. Download a copy of Daimler`s deferred lawsuit agreement here.