* Wal-Mart briefed panel on compliance program
* Cummings, Waxman want information on bribery allegations
By Aruna Viswanatha
WASHINGTON, May 21 (Reuters) – U.S. lawmakers investigation
Wal-Mart Stores Inc for alleged bribery in Mexico are
frustrated by the lack of cooperation they have received from
the company, a committee staffer familiar with the investigation
said.
Attorneys for Wal-Mart briefed the committee earlier on
Monday about the company’s anti-corruption compliance program,
the person said.
But Wal-Mart has not committed to briefing the panel on the
substantive allegations raised by a New York Times report, a key
request of the committee, said the staffer, who spoke on the
condition of anonymity.
A Wal-Mart spokesman did not immediately respond to a
request for comment. The company has previously declined to
discuss the allegations citing pending investigations.
It is unclear what avenue the lawmakers could pursue if
Wal-Mart declines to provide further information, since the
Democrats do not control the House and no parallel investigation
appears to be underway in the Senate. But the scrutiny further
prolongs the spotlight on Wal-Mart and the scandal over its
rapid expansion in Mexico.
Representatives Elijah Cummings and Henry Waxman, both
Democrats, opened their inquiry after the New York Times
reported last month that Wal-Mart had paid millions of dollars
in bribes to facilitate that expansion, and that senior
executives suppressed an internal investigation into the matter.
Last week the pair wrote to Wal-Mart chief executive Michael
Duke and asked him to authorize the former general counsel of
Wal-Mart International to cooperate in their probe.
Cummings, who is the ranking member of the House Oversight
Committee, and Waxman, who is the ranking member of the House
Committee on Energy and Commerce, last month also asked two
lobbying groups about Wal-Mart’s involvement in a campaign to
amend an anti-foreign bribery law.
The Chamber of Commerce and the Retail Industry Leaders
Association have participated in efforts to scale back the
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a 1970s law that bars bribes to
officials of foreign governments. Wal-Mart executives serve as
directors at both groups.
