A subsidiary of San Antonio-based billboard company Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc. will pay about $26 million to settle allegations that it provided gift cards, golf clubs, vases and other expensive gives to Chinese government officials to obtain outdoor advertising contracts.
San Antonio News-Express reports Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings on Thursday agreed to the payment — $16.4 million related to the benefits it received from the alleged improper payments, almost $3.8 million in interest and a $6 million penalty — under a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company submitted a settlement offer to the SEC to resolve allegations that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act without admitting or denying the commission’s findings. The law generally makes it illegal for people or companies to make payments to foreign government officials to assist in obtaining or retaining business.
From at least 2012 through 2017, the SEC found the company’s majority-owned Chinese subsidiary — Clear Media Ltd. — bribed Chinese government officials to obtain concession contracts required to sell advertising services to public and private sector clients for display on bus shelters, street furniture and billboards.
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