Microsoft is under investigation for bribery allegations relating to its business partners and foreign governments, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating the allegations. It is in the very early stages.
An anonymous tipster who worked with a Microsoft China subsidiary alleged that he or she was told to offer kickbacks to Chinese officials in exchange for them signing up for software contracts with Microsoft.
There are also allegations that Microsoft partners offered money to officials in Europe. Specifically, there are allegations of a reseller bribing Romanian officials. There is also an investigation into allegations Microsoft used consultants in Italy as a way to funnel money to Italian officials to secure software contracts.
Microsoft provided this comment on the allegations: "We take all allegations brought to our attention seriously and we cooperate fully in any government inquiries. Like other large companies with operations around the world we sometimes receive allegations about potential misconduct by employees or business partners and we investigate them fully regardless of the source. We also invest heavily in proactive training, monitoring and audits to ensure our business operations around the world meet the highest legal and ethical standards."
It also has a blog post up on the matter.
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