Reuters
Published Sep 15, 2022 06:22PM ET
Updated Sep 15, 2022 07:32PM ET
By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Brazil airline Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes SA will pay more than $41 million to resolve parallel bribery investigations by criminal and civil authorities in the United States and Brazil, U.S. authorities said on Thursday.
Gol entered into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department in connection with criminal information filed in Maryland charging the company with conspiracy to violate anti-bribery legislation, the department said in a statement.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said in a statement that Gol had agreed to pay $70 million to settle charges against it.
However, due to Gol's "inability to pay the fines in full, the SEC and the (Justice Department) waived payment of all but $24.5 million and $17 million", it added.
Gol will pay around $3.4 million in additional 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 "paid millions of dollars in bribes to foreign officials in Brazil in exchange for the passage of legislation that was beneficial to the airline."
Polite added that Gol had "entered into fraudulent contracts with third-party vendors for the purpose of generating and concealing the funds necessary to perpetrate this criminal conduct, and then falsely recorded the sham payments in their own books."
Between 2012 and 2013, the company conspired to offer and pay about $3.8 million in bribes to foreign officials in Brazil, the Justice Department said, citing court documents.
Gol representatives were not immediately reachable for comment.
In late July, the company reported a steep second-quarter net loss mainly due to foreign exchange variations.
It also provided new forecasts for 2022 to reflect frequent jet fuel price increases and pass-through effects on fares, lowering its outlook for key metrics such as EBITDA margin and load factor, but increasing its revenue forecast.
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.