Honeywell International announced in a regulatory filing that it is being investigated by U.S. and Brazilian authorities as to whether the company’s use of third parties in Brazil violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
“We are cooperating with certain investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and Brazilian authorities relating to our use of third parties who previously worked for our UOP business in Brazil in relation to Petróleo Brasileiro (Petrobras),” Honeywell said in the July 18 quarterly filing.
In 2018, Brazilian state-owned energy company Petrobras reached a coordinated resolution with U.S. and Brazilian authorities, agreeing to pay a combined $853.2 million for playing a role in one of the largest political corruption investigations the world has ever seen. The saga began when it was discovered that some of Brazil’s largest construction and engineering companies received inflated contracts from Petrobras—excess markups that were then used to funnel kickbacks to Petrobras executives and high-ranking politicians.
In its SEC filing, Honeywell said the investigations focus on compliance with the U.S. FCPA and similar Brazilian anti-corruption laws “and involve, among other things, document production and interviews with former and current management and employees.”
Honeywell also said in the SEC filing that U.S. authorities are examining “a matter involving a foreign subsidiary’s prior engagement of Unaoil S.A.M. in Algeria” and that they are “cooperating with the authorities in each of the above matters.”
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