Photo Credit: Yonatan Sindel / Flash 90
The Teva pharmaceuticals building in Jerusalem.

The Russian subsidiary of Teva Pharmaceuticals has pleaded guilty to one count violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in the United States, U.S. officials announced Thursday.

“Teva and its subsidiaries paid millions of dollars in bribes to government officials in various countries, and intentionally failed to implement a system of internal controls that would prevent bribery,” said Assistant Attorney-General Leslie Caldwell.

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Teva CEO Erez Vigodman called the situation “regrettable and unacceptable” but added that the company was “pleased to finally put this matter behind us. The Teva of today is a fundamentally different company.” He added that the firm had launched an internal probe on the matter in early 2012, and that none of the employees who were involved in the criminal behavior had remained with the company.

The cases date back as far as 2010 and 2012 with Russia, and as far back as 2001 and 2011 in Ukraine. In Mexico, the Justice Department documented a case dating back to 2005.

The Israeli generic pharmaceutical firm was ordered to pay $519 in fines for having paid bribes to foreign officials to win business in Russia, Ukraine and Mexico.

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Hana Levi Julian is a Middle East news analyst with a degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from Southern Connecticut State University. A past columnist with The Jewish Press and senior editor at Arutz 7, Ms. Julian has written for Babble.com, Chabad.org and other media outlets, in addition to her years working in broadcast journalism.