Tyco International Ltd. agreed to pay more than $26 million toresolve U.S. charges that it bribed officials of companiesincluding Saudi Aramco to win contracts.

Tyco Valves & Controls Middle East Inc., a subsidiary ofSchaffhausen, Switzerland-based Tyco, agreed to pay $13.7 millionas part of a guilty plea entered today before U.S. District JudgeClaude Hilton in Alexandria, Virginia, for conspiring to violatethe anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act,the U.S. Justice Department said in a statement.

In a civil proceeding, Tyco, which makes and sells productsrelated to security, fire protection and energy, agreed to pay$13.1 million under a final judgment with the Securities andExchange Commission, according to the statement.

From 1999 to 2009, Tyco and some of its subsidiaries paidgovernment officials to obtain and keep business with private andstate-owned entities, falsely describing the payments in theircorporate books as legitimate charges, the Justice Departmentsaid.

“For more than 10 years, various Tyco entities bribed foreignofficials and cooked the books to hide the payments,” NeilMacBride, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia,said in the statement.

Voluntary Disclosure

The plea agreement acknowledged that Tyco had voluntarilydisclosed the payments, conducted its own investigation, firedemployees involved and closed some subsidiaries.

“We're pleased to have reached a final resolution and we'redefinitely committed to maintaining our rigorous complianceprograms across all of our business activity,” said Brett Ludwig, aspokesman for Tyco. Ludwig said the company conducts internalaudits, and maintains an anonymous internal hotline for employeesand other anti-corruption programs.

Alan Dodd, a representative with Aramco Services in Houston,didn't immediately respond to an e-mail and a phone call seekingcomment on the case.

The case is U.S. v. Tyco, 12-cr-00418, U.S. District Court,Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria).

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