P. M. BRIEFING : Young & Rubicam Admits Guilt

Young & Rubicam Inc., one of the world’s largest advertising agencies, pleaded guilty today to making $130,000 in illegal payments in its efforts to win the contract for the Jamaican tourism account.

The New York-based company was fined $500,000 for conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by making payments to a Jamaican businessman, Arnold Foote Jr., who in turn made payments to Eric Anthony Abrahams, the former minister of tourism in Jamaica, said U.S. Atty. Stanley A. Twardy.

The government alleged that Young & Rubicam made the payments in order to win and retain the lucrative Jamaican tourism account, for which it produced the award-winning “Come Back to Jamaica” campaign in the early 1980s.

The government, citing “exculpatory evidence recently turned over to the government,” dropped charges against two Young & Rubicam executives, executive vice president Arthur R. Klein and former account supervisor Thomas Spangenberg.

A third Young & Rubicam worker, Steven M. McKenna, faces federal perjury charges.