Skift Take
Ouch. Still, it might have been a lot even worse for one of Latin America’s largest airline companies, which is paying less than half of the initial penalties that were consequently waived. The airline, which reported a loss last quarter, made the case it did not have the cash to pay all $87 million.
Tom Lowry
Brazil airline Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes SA will pay more than $41 million to solve parallel bribery investigations by criminal and civil authorities in the United States and Brazil, U.S. authorities said on Thursday.
Gol participated in a three-year deferred prosecution contract with the Justice Department in connection with criminal info submitted in Maryland charging the company with conspiracy to breach anti-bribery legislation, the department stated in a declaration.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said in a statement that Gol had accepted pay $70 million to settle charges versus it.
Nevertheless, due to Gol’s “inability to pay the fines completely, the SEC and the (Justice Department) waived payment of all however $24.5 million and $17 million,” it added.
Gol will pay around $3.4 million in extra fines to Brazilian authorities, the SEC said. The airline agreed with the Justice Department to pay more than $87 million to settle criminal charges, the SEC added.
Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite, of the Justice Department’s criminal division, said Gol had actually “paid countless dollars in bribes to foreign authorities in Brazil in exchange for the passage of legislation that was helpful to the airline.”
Courteous added that Gol had “entered into deceitful agreements with third-party suppliers for the purpose of creating and concealing the funds essential to commit this criminal conduct, and after that falsely tape-recorded the sham payments in their own books.”
In between 2012 and 2013, the business conspired to provide and pay about $3.8 million in allurements to foreign officials in Brazil, the Justice Department stated, pointing out court documents.
Gol representatives were not right away reachable for comment.
In late July, the business reported a steep second-quarter bottom line primarily due to foreign exchange variations.
It likewise offered brand-new forecasts for 2022 to show regular jet fuel rate boosts and pass-through effects on fares, reducing its outlook for key metrics such as EBITDA margin and load aspect, however increasing its profits projection.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Modifying by Bill Berkrot and Stephen Coates)
This article was composed by Kanishka Singh from Reuters and was lawfully certified through the Industry Dive Material Market. Please direct all licensing questions to [email protected]
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