Foreign Microsoft VARs centre of fresh bribe probe

Russian and Pakistani VARs allegedly bribed a state-owned firm and funded an Egyptian holiday to win deals

Microsoft has insisted it takes allegations of bribery seriously after fresh reports claim the firm is being investigated amid more bribery claims – this time in Russia and Pakistan.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports that the software giant is being investigated after business partners in Russia and Pakistan offered bribes in order to win lucrative deals.

The WSJ claims in Russia an anonymous source told Microsoft some VARs offered kick-back payments to bosses of a government-owned firm in order to win a deal. In Pakistan, another tip-off alleged the vendor gave the thumbs-up to a consulting firm for it to fund a five-day jolly to Egypt for a government official and his wife in order to win another tender.

Microsoft's deputy general counsel John Frank said on an official blog: "We take every allegation seriously, and we co-operate fully in any government inquiries. Like other large companies with operations around the world, we sometimes receive allegations about potential misconduct by employees or business partners, and we investigate them fully, regardless of the source."

He added that Microsoft also invests heavily in proactive training, monitoring and audits to ensure its operations meet legal and ethical standards.

The allegations follow reports in March that the US government was investigating reports that Microsoft representatives and reseller partners bribed foreign government officials in an effort to drum up software sales in China, Italy and Romania.