In a letter made public on Monday, the Justice Department said the subsidiary, Liberty General Insurance, paid $1.47 million in bribes to six state-owned banks, which in exchange referred customers to its insurance products.
Washington: US insurer Liberty Mutual will give up $4.7 million in profit to settle a U.S. criminal bribery probe into an Indian subsidiary, in the Department of Justice’s(DoJ) first public enforcement action of a federal anti-bribery law it resumed enforcing in June.
In a letter made public on Monday, the Justice Department said the subsidiary, Liberty General Insurance, paid $1.47 million in bribes to six state-owned banks, which in exchange referred customers to its insurance products.
Liberty’s scheme ran from 2017 to 2022 and resulted in $9.2 million in revenue and the $4.7 million in profit, the letter said.
Under the agreement, known as a declination, published by DOJ’s criminal fraud section, Liberty Mutual disclosed evidence—verified by prosecutors—that its operation in India paid nearly $1.5 million in bribes through an intermediary to six state-owned banks. The banks then referred customers to Liberty Mutual insurance products in India, resulting in $9.2 million in revenue and $4.7 million in profits, DOJ said.
In the department’s corporate enforcement and voluntary self-disclosure policy, declinations are offered to companies that self-disclose misconduct, cooperate with investigations, remediate, and have no aggravating factors—such as a recent history of similar violations.
The Justice Department said the settlement reflected Liberty’s acceptance of responsibility, cooperation including its March 2024 disclosure of the misconduct, and compliance upgrades.
The department didn’t specify whether charges are being pursued against any of the individuals who facilitated the bribes, but noted Liberty Mutual’s “separation from personnel involved in the misconduct” and its cooperation with the government’s ongoing investigation.
In February, U.S. President Donald Trump halted enforcement of the anti-bribery law, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, saying its overuse denied a level playing field, opens new tab to U.S. companies, harming economic competitiveness and national security.
The Justice Department restarted enforcement with a scaled-back approach focused on misconduct that hurts U.S. competitiveness, involves key infrastructure, and is tied to cartels or transnational criminal groups.
Liberty’s settlement is fairly small. A wide range of multinational companies have been prosecuted under the anti-bribery law, including Goldman Sachs (GS.N), opens new tab and Sweden’s Ericsson.
In a statement, Liberty said it was pleased the Justice Department “acknowledged our proactive approach and affirmed our commitment to integrity and compliance across our global enterprise.”
Agencies