found
in July 2011 the company had hired a French investment
banker, a close friend of a former senior Guinean government
official, as a consultant to help Rio Tinto retain its mining
rights in the Simandou region in Guinea.
The miner, one of the world's top iron ore producers, said
it would pay the charges without admitting to or denying the
SEC's findings that it violated the books and records and
internal accounting controls provisions.
"When Rio became aware of the issue, an internal
investigation was immediately launched, and we proactively
notified the appropriate authorities," Chairman Dominic Barton
said on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Riya Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini
Ganguli)
(Updates with background)
March 7 (Reuters) - Rio Tinto said on Tuesday
it had agreed to pay a $15 million civil penalty to settle an
investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission,
relating to an alleged bribery scheme involving a consultant in
Guinea.
The company, fined for violating the Foreign Corrupt
Practices Act, said the investigation involved certain
contractual payments made to a former consultant over a decade
ago.
The U.S. SEC investigation
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