China fines GSK USD 489 million for bribery

British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) was today fined USD 489 million, the biggest-ever penalty given by a Chinese court, for bribing doctors in China to boost sales.
The Changsha Intermediate People's Court in central China's Hunan Province imposed a fine of 3 billion yuan ((USD 489 million) on the Chinese branch of GSK while sentencing its manager, a British national, to three years in prison.
Following today's closed-door trial of the bribery case involving GSK China, the court ruled the firm was guilty of bribing personnel in the business and imposed the fine, the biggest-ever penalty given by a Chinese court, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

GSK China, "resorted to bribery to boost sales of its medical products and sought benefits in an unfair manner," the court said in a statement.
"(The firm) bribed, in various forms, people working in medical institutions across the country, and the amount of money involved was huge.Five senior executives actively organised, pushed forward and implemented sales with bribery," it said.
Among the five, Mark Reilly, a British national and former manager of GSK China, has been given three years with a four-year reprieve and will be expelled from China.
Another three, namely, former human resources director Zhang Guowei, former vice president and operation manager Liang Hong and former legal affairs director Zhao Hongyan, were given two to three years with reprieves ranging from two to three years.