{"id":3717,"date":"2016-02-09T21:13:10","date_gmt":"2016-02-09T21:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=3717"},"modified":"2016-02-09T21:13:10","modified_gmt":"2016-02-09T21:13:10","slug":"u-s-department-of-justice-urged-to-investigate-bribery-case-against-british-american-tobacco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=3717","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Department of Justice urged to investigate bribery case against British-American Tobacco"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BAT_2148576b\"<\/p>\n

Several U.S. Senators and Congresspeople have signed a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice\u00a0urging the agency to begin an investigation into bribery accusations against British-American Tobacco.<\/p>\n

I wrote about some of these accusations a few weeks ago here.<\/a>\u00a0However, according to the letter from Congresspeople, the accusations go beyond those exposed in a recent BBC documentary about British-American Tobacco.<\/p>\n

From a Guardian article:<\/a><\/p>\n

The politicians, led by congressman Lloyd Doggett and senator Richard Blumenthal, suggest that BAT\u2019s actions may have violated both the Anti-Bribery and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Acts (FCPA). If proven, the allegations \u2013 denied by BAT \u2013 could result in jail terms for the company\u2019s executives.<\/p>\n

Some of the allegations about BAT\u2019s activities in parts of Africa first surfaced in a BBC Panorama<\/em> documentary last year<\/a>. Since then, US lawmakers say that additional documents have come to light, which they claim suggest alleged bribery may have been more widespread than previously thought.<\/p>\n

It is alleged that the documents raise questions as to whether BAT paid people off to protect its corporate reputation and to cover up scandals, including environmental damage caused by a warehouse fire in Uganda. There are also claims that the company engaged in corporate espionage and the sabotage of competitors in Kenya. \u201cIf true, these allegations would demonstrate a deplorable choice by BAT to balloon its profits through bribery at the expense of the health of millions,\u201d said Doggett. \u201cAny corporation that enjoys the benefits of our stock exchange must comply with our anti-bribery laws.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

According to a BBC documentary on British-American Tobacco, the company was bribing officials in African nations to weaken laws regarding tobacco marketing and packaging. Tobacco companies have been pulling out all the stops, including intimidation, threats of lawsuits and getting the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to pressure countries to combat any kind of anti-smoking measures in small nations, which simply don’t have the money or resources to fend off these powerful companies.<\/p>\n

The nations involved in the BBC documentary include Rwanda, Burundi and the Comoros Islands.<\/p>\n

Though British-American Tobacco is based in the UK, the company is the third-largest tobacco comglomerate in the U.S., behind Philip Morris and RJ Reynolds. BAT brands include Pall Mall, Lucky Strike, Kool, Kent and Benson & Hedges. British American Tobacco is already under investigation in the UK and has publicly stated that whatever bribery schemes took place were the result of a “rogue employee.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Several U.S. Senators and Congresspeople have signed a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice\u00a0urging the agency to begin an investigation into bribery accusations against British-American Tobacco. I wrote about some of these accusations a few weeks ago here.\u00a0However, according to the letter from Congresspeople, the accusations go beyond those exposed in a recent BBC … Continue reading U.S. Department of Justice urged to investigate bribery case against British-American Tobacco<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3718,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[451,20],"tags":[750,761],"class_list":["post-3717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-british-american-tobacco","category-department-of-justice","tag-british-american-tobacco","tag-department-of-justice"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/BAT_2148576b.jpg?fit=620%2C388&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4hpEa-XX","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3641,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=3641","url_meta":{"origin":3717,"position":0},"title":"BBC investigation: British American Tobacco bribing government officials in the Third World","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"December 4, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"This is part of an ongoing series of articles about Big Tobacco's desire to expand into emerging markets in the Third World -- mostly Africa and South Asia -- because of the decline of smoking rates in the West. This awesome piece by BBC, with the help of a corporate\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "BBC"","block_context":{"text":"BBC","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=749"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/BAT.jpg?fit=620%2C388&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/BAT.jpg?fit=620%2C388&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/BAT.jpg?fit=620%2C388&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4130,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=4130","url_meta":{"origin":3717,"position":1},"title":"Big Tobacco starts airing court-ordered anti-smoking ads","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"December 1, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"This week, tobacco companies began running ads admitting that cigarettes are unhealthy. This is the result of lawsuit filed by the Justice Department way back in 1999. A court ruled back in 2006 that the industry had to admit its wrongdoings, but Altria and RJR and British American Tobacco have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Justice Department"","block_context":{"text":"Justice Department","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=211"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/tobacco-ad3-e1512168913715.jpg?fit=757%2C451&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/tobacco-ad3-e1512168913715.jpg?fit=757%2C451&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/tobacco-ad3-e1512168913715.jpg?fit=757%2C451&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/tobacco-ad3-e1512168913715.jpg?fit=757%2C451&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3719,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=3719","url_meta":{"origin":3717,"position":2},"title":"Federal judge tells Big Tobacco, “quit wasting my damn time”","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"February 11, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a great story. I've posted earlier stories about as part of a Justice Department RICO (a federal racketeering law usually used against organized crime) lawsuit, Big Tobacco was ordered some time ago to come up with \"corrective statements,\" ie, full-age newspaper ads admitting that tobacco companies have lied\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Tobacco"","block_context":{"text":"Big Tobacco","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/jp-tobacco-articleLarge.jpg?fit=600%2C274&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/jp-tobacco-articleLarge.jpg?fit=600%2C274&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/jp-tobacco-articleLarge.jpg?fit=600%2C274&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3277,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=3277","url_meta":{"origin":3717,"position":3},"title":"Big Tobacco ordered to admit it lied; Industry appeals, appellate court says, ‘You lied, admit it’","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"May 26, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Hah, I thought this story was GREAT. Several months ago, Tobacco companies were ordered by a federal district judge to take out full-page ads in a bunch of major newspapers, admitting that they lied for decades about the dangers of cigarette smoking. The decision was made as part of a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Tobacco"","block_context":{"text":"Big Tobacco","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/sorry-puppy.jpg?fit=520%2C380&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":886,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=886","url_meta":{"origin":3717,"position":4},"title":"Federal judge finds graphic cigarette warnings unconstitutional","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"March 2, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Not surprising since the same judge a few weeks ago slapped an injunction on these cigarette labels. Washington Post story. New York Times story. Judge Richard J. Leon ruled this week that graphic warnings on cigarette packs violate the First Amendment, because, essentially, they go too far in forcing tobacco\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anti-tobacco campaign"","block_context":{"text":"Anti-tobacco campaign","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/french-cigarettes.jpg?fit=463%2C568&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1640,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=1640","url_meta":{"origin":3717,"position":5},"title":"Tobacco companies must place full-page ads admitting they lied","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"January 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Interesting and to me surprising story. This week, several tobacco companies -- RJ Reynolds, Altria (Philip Morris) -- agreed with the Justice Department to print \"corrective statements\" in major newspapers around the U.S. admitting that they lied for many years about the health effects of smoking. These full-page ads will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anti-tobacco campaign"","block_context":{"text":"Anti-tobacco campaign","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Guilty-Dogs-Of-2013-Hilarious-Dog-Video-Compilation.jpg?fit=630%2C416&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Guilty-Dogs-Of-2013-Hilarious-Dog-Video-Compilation.jpg?fit=630%2C416&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Guilty-Dogs-Of-2013-Hilarious-Dog-Video-Compilation.jpg?fit=630%2C416&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}