Charlie Martin
I had lunch with a guy I haven't seen in some time - Steve, who works at the Economist Intelligence Unit. Great food, by the way - the restaurant of the Sichuan provincial government's rep office in Beijing, so naturally the Sichuan food was amazing. Ordered the standards just to make sure. But I digress. Steve mentioned an article I somehow missed in yesterday's WSJ on a bribery scandal involving Monsanto's operation in Indonesia. The reporters named names, and one name named was a guy I once interviewed for a story, Charlie Martin, the head of the American Chamber of Commerce here in Bejiing. The Journal reporters say they viewed an e-mail from Martin's Monsanto account to the private e-mail address of one Michael Villareal basically asking Villareal to disguise bribes paid on behalf of Monsanto by invoicing the company for consulting fees totalling some $66,000.
Charlie Martin was a career foreign service officer who had been posted around Asia, and seemed to me a thoughtful, well-spoken, upright man. I believe in innocent until proven guilty, and no charges have been filed, but I don't think there's a way out of this for him, and he'll almost certainly have to resign his post as head of AmCham China.
I've always heard American businesspeople complain that they're hamstrung by the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which is basically an anti-bribery law that renders an American subject to US law while conducting business abroad. They say German and French companies engage in bribery all the time in Asia; I've heard a few anecdotes by people quite close to me. Anyone have any stories they'd like to share?
Charlie Martin was a career foreign service officer who had been posted around Asia, and seemed to me a thoughtful, well-spoken, upright man. I believe in innocent until proven guilty, and no charges have been filed, but I don't think there's a way out of this for him, and he'll almost certainly have to resign his post as head of AmCham China.
I've always heard American businesspeople complain that they're hamstrung by the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which is basically an anti-bribery law that renders an American subject to US law while conducting business abroad. They say German and French companies engage in bribery all the time in Asia; I've heard a few anecdotes by people quite close to me. Anyone have any stories they'd like to share?