Diageo settles bribery charges
Norwalk-based Diageo North America Inc. will pay more than $16 million to settle charges of bribery brought against the company by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
According to the SEC, it uncovered multiple violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits companies from bribing foreign officials. Diageo was accused of spending $2.7 million on officials in South Korea, Thailand and India and gaining $11 million in illegitimate profit between 2003 and 2009. The SEC also said the company inappropriately accounted for the expenditures.
Though it did not admit to any illegal behavior, Diageo has agreed to surrender the $11 million, pay $2 million in interest and a $3 million civil penalty.
The company said in a statement it takes the findings seriously and has enhanced its controls to make sure the crime is not repeated. Diageo”™s Norwalk office declined to comment on the circumstances.
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GE expands energy investments
Stamford-based GE Energy Financial Services has broken ground at a new energy facility in California.
Having partnered with Competitive Power Ventures, Inc. and Diamond Generating Corp., the group has begun construction on their co-owned, gas-fired 800-megawatt CPV Sentinel Energy Center in Riverside County.
CPV, the managing member and developer, owns 25 percent of the project, while DGC and GE own 50 percent and 25 percent, respectively.
The $900 million power plant will be located near Desert Hot Springs, five miles northwest of Palm Springs. It is expected to create 300 construction jobs with a $40 million payroll, along with nearly 400 indirect jobs with a $15 million payroll. The project will provide an estimated $30 million in sales tax during construction and an estimated $6.4 million in annual property taxes once operational in the summer of 2013.
The CPV Sentinel plant will supply power to the Coachella Valley and Los Angeles Basin under a long-term power purchase agreement with Southern California Edison, an Edison International company. CPV will manage the project, while DGC will serve as the plant”™s operator.
When it becomes operational, the project is projected to be able to power approximately 640,000 homes.
Stamps designed by Lyall
Norwalk-based illustrator Dennis Lyall of has created four stamp designs that have recently been released through the U.S. Postal Services as the 60 million new Forever Stamps that honor the U.S. Merchant Marines. Lyall is an accomplished commissioned painter and illustrator having done works for General Electric, NBC, Big Apple Circus and Nabisco. To date Lyall has created more than 40 stamp designs for the Postal Service.
The Merchant Marine stamps were created under the art direction of Carl T. Herrman of North Las Vegas. The stamps show 19th and 20th century ships with brief descriptions of the vessels.
