Sinopec: Bribed employee punished

Daimler and three of its subsidiaries are being charged with violating U.S. bribery laws for more than a decade. China's main refiner Sinopec is involved in the case. But it claims an employee who accepted Daimler's bribes was punished years ago. The oil company is now urging the government to tighten the oversight of lawbreaking foreign companies.

The Beijing-based refiner, better known as Sinopec, put out a statement on its Web site. It says the employee, which it identified only by the surname "Du," was convicted and sentenced to 7 years in prison by a Beijing court in 2006 for crimes committed in 2002 and 2003.

The state-owned company says it severed its business relations with Daimler after the case arose, and corrected any problems and moved to strengthen its anti-corruption measures.

The kickbacks of cash and gifts allegedly paid by Daimler were meant to help fix contracts for purchases of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Daimler vehicles.

A Sinopec spokesman says since 2007, the company signed an agreement with all its suppliers on obeying trade morals. He says the agreement is now attached to every purchase contract and stipulates its employees and suppliers refrain from accepting bribes, or conducting in any improper competitive behaviors.

Daimler, the maker of Mercedes allegedly bribed officials in at least 22 countries to secure global contracts between 1998 and 2008. It will reportedly pay 137 million euros in fines for allegedly paying tens of millions in bribes.

An official hearing will be held April 1st in Washington.