IBM (IBM) Accused of Bribing Chinese and Korean Officials

Shares of International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) gave up some of their earlier gains on new the company was accused of bribing officials from China and Korea for a period of over a 10-years.

IBM apparently gave cash and gifts to officials in China and South Korea from 1998 through 2009 in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleged today in a lawsuit filed in Washington.

The SEC said in the complaint, “Deficient internal controls allowed employees of IBM’s subsidiaries and joint venture to use local business partners and travel agencies as conduits for bribes or other improper payments to South Korean and Chinese government officials over long periods of time."

Wisely, IBM decided to take care of the issue almost immediately, agreeing to pay $10 million to settle the accusations.

The company will pay $5.3 million in disgorgement, $2.7 million in interest and a penalty of $2 million to settle a lawsuit filed today in federal court in Washington.

IBM was trading at $155.63, gaining $1.45, or 0.94 percent, as of 1:00 PM EDT.