The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Justice Department are investigating whether Hewlett-Packard Co. passed $11 million in kickback bribes to Russian officials in order to win contracts in the early 2000s, when Senate candidate Carly Fiorina was still the company's CEO, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.
The SEC is joining German and Russian investigators, who reportedly raided the company's Moscow offices earlier this week. The issue centers around a $47.5 million contract to provide computer equipment to Russian prosecutors.
Flickr photoCarly Fiorina
Fiorina's spokeswoman, Amy Thoma, told the Sacramento Bee that Fiorina was unaware of any wrongdoing.
"Carly has no knowledge of these alleged actions," Thoma said. "When she served as the CEO of HP if she had been aware of any illegal or inappropriate behavior by any employee she would have taken action immediately to terminate the parties involved."
Still, her opponents wasted no time jumping on the allegations. Irvine Assemblyman Chuck Devore, who is trailing both Fiorina and fellow GOP candidate Tom Campbell in the polls, attacked the issues yesterday in a statement.
"When confronted with this news, Fiorina will do what she always does: deny knowledge, despite having been a famously micromanaging and bottom-line-oriented CEO," DeVore said. "Now that she aspires to Constitutional high office, she owes Californians – and herself – something more. It's the one thing we have yet to see when she addresses her rocky and increasingly questionable corporate past: honesty."
A company spokeswoman told the Journal that Hewlett-Packard was cooperating with the investigation.
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