Corruption

The fine line between gift and bribe

In a recent case involving a company, a due diligence assessment warranted evaluation of files of certain decision-making employees to ensure that the processes were being followed. It was found that one of these employees had been 'gifted' an iPad from a vendor. Subsequent reviews indicated that this vendor was able to maintain the lowest bid on most of the contracts for the company, and thereby being awarded a significant work. Investigations revealed that the employee had been leaking pricing quoted by the vendor's competitors.

In another case, after complaints were raised that employees of a company had paid bribes to certain government officials, the investigating team of the company noticed an email requesting approval for a "gift". The email further indicated that as it was a festive season, the gift would be "adequate" to ensure that a pending decision would go in company's favour. Interestingly, the email request had received an approval from the management.