Alcatel finalizing US settlement over bribes paid in Costa Rica and Honduras

French telecommunications company Alcatel-Lucent is finalizing a settlement with the US over bribes paid to officials in Costa Rica, Honduras, Malaysia and Taiwan.

The deal set to conclude today in Miami federal court includes a $92 million penalty as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department. Altacel paid another $45 million to settle a related Securities and Exchange Commission case.

A Costa Rican firm is asking a US federal judge at the hearing to declare it a victim of the bribes and order Alcatel to pay it millions of dollars in damages. The U.S. government opposes that request.

Original source: Associated Press