U.S. gets a cut of Siemens bribes

What’s wrong with Siemens paying $1.4 billion in bribes to government officials? Answer: Uncle Sam didn’t get his cut. (“Siemens to pay fines in criminal probe,” Dec. 16.)

So the Securities and Exchange Commission enforced an $800-million slice of the pie. Not a bribe, please; it’s a “settlement.” And for that, the U.S. calls everything an “accounting violation,” and Siemens gets to stay in the government contracts game.

With corruption, it seems that the difference between America and the rest of the world is that we have better paperwork and more ingenious PR spin.

Tim Clark

Los Angeles