Uber starts Asia biz review amid US bribery probe
BENGALURU/SANFRANCISCO/KUALA
LUMPUR: Uber Technologies Inc, which is the subject of a US federal probe into whether it broke bribery laws, has started a review of its Asia operations and notified US authorities about payments made by staff to police officers in Indonesia, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The review comes after Uber said in August it was cooperating with a preliminary investigation led by the US department of justice (DOJ) into whether its managers violated US laws against bribery of foreign officials, specifically the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Uber has hired law firm O’Melveny & Myers LLP to review its Asia operations.
It previously hired the firm to investigate how it obtained the medical records of an Indian woman who was raped by an Uber driver in 2014, Reuters reported in June.
Bloomberg first reported Uber’s review of its Asia operations. It said O’Melveny & Myers was examining records of payments made in Asia and interviewing employees.
It quoted people with knowledge of the matter as saying that late last year, an Uber employee in Jakarta made multiple, small payments to police on the understanding that Uber would be permitted to continue operating from an office located in a non-business zone. Uber fired the employee and placed the head of the Indonesian business who approved the expense report on a leave of absence, Bloomberg said, citing the people. The head has since left the company, it reported.
Jakarta police spokesman Argo Yuwono told Reuters there was no investigation into any payments. He also said jurisdiction over location permits resided with the local government, not police.
Uber declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. The US department of justice could not be reached for comment outside of regular US business hours.
The DOJ is focusing on suspicious activity in China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and South Korea, Bloomberg reported. Uber’s law firm is also reviewing financial arrangements with Malaysia’s government that may have influenced lawmakers there, it said.