Bribery charges to cost Alcatel $137 million

NEW YORK – Alcatel-Lucent SA has agreed to pay more than $137 million to settle charges brought against it by the federal government.

The Securities and Exchange Commission accused the Paris-based maker of telecommunications gear of paying bribes to foreign government officials to win business in Latin America and Asia illegally.

Alcatel, a supplier to U.S. and European phone companies, agreed to pay more than $45 million to settle the SEC’s charges. It will pay an additional $92 million to settle separate criminal charges announced by the Justice Department.

The SEC’s complaint said Alcatel’s bribes went to government officials in Costa Rica, Honduras, Malaysia and Taiwan between December 2001 and June 2006. Alcatel bought U.S.-based Lucent Technologies at the end of 2006.

The SEC complaint, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Miami, said all of the bribery payments were undocumented or improperly recorded as consulting fees by Alcatel subsidiaries and then consolidated into the company’s financial statements.

The complaint also says leaders of several Alcatel subsidiaries and geographical regions either knew or were severely reckless in not knowing about the misconduct.

A year ago, Alcatel created a reserve for the settlement of $127 million. As a result, the company said, the settlement won’t affect this year’s results.