Walmart bribery probe finds few major offences in Mexico: WSJ

Report says case could be resolved with a fine and without any criminal charges

A federal probe into allegations of corruption at Walmart Stores Inc's Mexico operations has found few major offenses, and is likely to result in a much smaller case than investigators expected, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation.

The three-year investigation is mostly complete and the case could be resolved with a fine and without any criminal charges, the newspaper said. 

As part of the same probe, investigators found evidence of bribery in India, centering on widespread but relatively small payments made to local officials, the Journal said.

Walmart is likely to face US foreign-bribery charges under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act over those payments, the newspaper said.

Walmart spokesman Greg Hitt said the company was cooperating with the government on the matter. A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment on the status of the investigation.

US lawmakers launched an investigation after the New York Times reported in 2012 that Walmart de Mexico (Walmex) had engaged in a multi-year campaign of bribery to build its business. 

The NYT report said a senior Walmart lawyer had received an email from a former Walmex executive in September 2005 describing how Walmart de Mexico had paid bribes to obtain permits to build stores across the country.

According to the Times, Walmart sent investigators to Mexico City and found a paper trail of suspect payments totaling more than $24 million. But the company's top executives shut down the probe and did not notify US or Mexican law enforcement officials until after the newspaper informed Walmart that it was looking into the issue.

After the NYT report in April 2012, Walmart had lost $10 billion of its market value on concerns that the bribery investigation in Mexico could be very costly and hinder its plans to grow. 

In November 2012, Indian authorities were investigating claims that Walmart violated foreign exchange rules when it invested $100 million in its Indian joint venture. Walmart's Indian joint venture suspended its chief financial officer and other employees as part of its investigations.