A US congressional watchdog has concluded that IBM Corp’s Argentine unit, involved in a major bribery scandal (CI No 2,733), overcharged a state bank $120m for a computer system. A five-month investigation has revealed that IBM should have charged some $130m to the Banco Nacion for the 1993 contract instead of $249m, a National Auditing Office official said. The report was expected to be sent to Congress last night with a US Federal judge is investigating whether bribes were paid by IBM to clinch the deal. The investigation also covered Banco Nacion’s deal with UK consultants Deloitte & Touche, who were commissioned to handle the whole negotiation with IBM. IBM Argentina fired its top brass when the scandal blew up, and former employees have recently testified top IBM officials in the US knew about the deal (CI No 2,862).Washington has sent both Federal Bureau of Investigation and Securities & Exchange Commission officials down to examine the case.
