Microsoft agrees to pay $25M to settle Hungary bribery case

July 22 (UPI) – Software and tech giant Microsoft has agreed to pay more than $25 million to settle a Hungarian bribery case, the U.S. Justice Department announced Monday. Microsoft Hungary must pay more than $16 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission and $8.7 million in criminal penalties as a result of a Justice Department investigation.

The subsidiary is accused of participating in a scheme to provide discounts on software sales to Hungarian government agencies. Instead of passing those savings on to the customers, they were used for "corrupt purposes" and falsely recorded. The Justice Department said those actions violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Though Microsoft Hungary didn't report the misconduct, the Justice Department said it gave the company credit for cooperating with investigators and for enacting remedial measures. Microsoft terminated its relationship with four licensing partners and implemented new internal controls. The SEC said Microsoft subsidiaries in Saudi Arabia and Thailand also offered improper gifts to foreign government officials and employees of non-government companies, through slush funds.

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2019/07/22/Microsoft-agrees-to-pay-25M-to-settle-Hungary-bribery-case/1031563815685/?lh=6

SEC Charges Microsoft Corporation with FCPA Violations

https://www.sec.gov/enforce/34-86421-s-0

Hungary Subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation Agrees to Pay $8.7 Million in Criminal Penalties to Resolve Foreign Bribery Casehttps://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/hungary-subsidiary-microsoft-corporation-agrees-pay-87-million-criminal-penalties-resolve

DOJ Criminal Investigation

https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1185686/download

Reporter reveals Assange told her leaks came from inside Hillary’s campaign, not Russia

On Sunday Conservative Treehouse posted a video of American news analyst Ellen Ratner from November 9th, 2016. the day after the 2016 election. Speaking at Embry Riddle University symposium with former Congressman now Fox political analyst John Leboutillier, Ratner discussed the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election. During the symposium, Ellen Ratner also revealed she met with Julian Assange for three hours the Saturday before the 2016 election. He told her the leaks were not from the Russians, they were from an internal source in Hillary’s Campaign.

Ellen Ratner: By the way, as an fyi, I met with Wikileaks. I spent three hours with Julian Assange on Saturday at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. Well, I did. One thing he did say was the leaks were not from, they were not from the Russians, they were an internal source from the Hillary Campaign. From somebody who knew Hillary, an enemy. He does not think they’re from Russians. And he says Russia should not get credit for something Wikileaks should have gotten credit for.

According to an amended lawsuit filed by Texas businessman Ed Butowsky, Ellen Ratner relayed information from Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to Butowsky regarding Seth Rich’s role in transferring emails to Wikileaks. According to Butowsky, Ratner was his source and gathered the information on Seth Rich after her contact with Julian Assange and Wikileaks officials. Ratner’s late brother Michael Ratner was a lawyer for Wikileaks before his death in 2016. It is odd that Ratner wasn’t interviewed by Robert Mueller or his team. This information seems important.

https://milnenews.com/2019/07/22/reporter-reveals-assange-told-her-leaks-came-from-inside-hillarys-campaign-not-russia/