Honeywell agrees to pay about $200 mln over U.S., Brazil bribery charges

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Dec 19 (Reuters) –

Manufacturer Honeywell International Inc. on Monday said it has agreed to pay about $200 million to settle criminal and civil corruption investigations related to bribery schemes in the United States and Brazil. The U.S. Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) commission each announced the resolution of parallel investigations relating to bribes that Honeywell paid between 2010 and 2014 to a high-ranking official at Brazil’s state-owned oil company to secure business.

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The SEC charges also relate to payments Honeywell’s Belgian subsidiary made to an Algerian government official in 2011. Those bribes involved Monaco-based oil consultancy Unaoil, which has previously been charged by global authorities over a 17-year scheme to pay bribes to officials in nine countries.

Darius Adamczyk, chairman and chief executive officer, said Honeywell is “pleased” to have the matter behind it, noting the firm received full cooperation credit.

About $160 million of the total amount Honeywell said it will pay will go to U.S. civil and criminal penalties. The rest will be paid to Brazilian authorities, a Honewell spokesperson said.

U.S. prosecutors agreed to defer potential prosecution against the firm for three years in exchange for a criminal penalty of about $79 million and promise of continued cooperation in any other investigations, among other things, the Justice Department said.

Honeywell agreed to pay another $81 million civil penalty to resolve the SEC’s charges, though almost half is expected to be offset by payments made to Brazilian authorities, the SEC said. (Reporting by Chris Prentice and Tyler Clifford; Editing by David Gregorio)