"We weren't doing it ...
... but we're going to stop as of __________ ". Typical corporate attitude.
HP is paying $55m to end an investigation into government procurement which suggested the ink giant was paying kickbacks to its channel partners in order to get government contracts. HP said it was paying to end the investigation earlier this month, without admitting any guilt. Assistant US Attorney General Tony West said: " …
As this case demonstrates, we will take action against those who seek to taint the government procurement process with illegal kickbacks,"
No, it shows that if you have the cash, you can buy your freedom.
Corruption is alive and well in the Land of the free, sorry wealthy.
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HP may have paid a larger fine and would have had to pay the lawyers thus the payoff.
We as measly little plebs would still have to plead guilty and pay the fine.
This is an example of what it wrong with business in the US.
When it suits them corps act liek individuals and demand rights and when it suits them they stand apart as entities immune from prosecution and held in special favor.
If a corp is going to buy off a probe then they should have to admit guilt or face the the beak.
They might have stopped, in the US, the "taint" pf the government procurement process with illegal kickbacks but HP continues s usual elsewhere.as well as in industrial applications.
When the founders were alive, HP was a beacon of fair dealing and honesty. Pity the board and management doesn't know HP's history.
It's time the pampered politios stopped shaking down honest businesses with unending investigations that will just go away if only the company greases the right palms in just the right way. Coupons and discounts are a standard business practice here in the states, and some of them depend on your status like "student," "charitable," and "government." An investigation into allegations of kickbacks under this guise is nothing but a thugish shakedown on the part of our new Lords and Masters.