Wal-Mart Abroad: A retail giant fueled growth with bribes

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Wal-Mart Abroad

How a retail giant fueled growth with bribes

Josh Haner/The New York Times

Vast Mexico Bribery Case Hushed Up by Wal-Mart After Top-Level Struggle

By David Barstow
Published: April 21, 2012

Confronted with evidence of widespread corruption in Mexico, top Wal-Mart executives focused more on damage control than on rooting out wrongdoing, an examination by The New York Times found.

In Mexico, Wal-Mart advertises its stores on green signs, a color usually reserved for street signs nationwide.

Wal-Mart’s Response

David W. Tovar, a spokesman for Wal-Mart, responds to The New York Times.

Four Bribes, One Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart de Mexico faced a series of legal obstacles in its quest to build a supermarket in the protected archaeological zone around the pyramid complex in Teotihuacán. It overcame those obstacles by authorizing bribes, records and interviews show.

In the original map, the plot’s zoning designation, H500A, allowed only houses to be built there. In the altered map, the land where Wal-Mart wanted to build had its zoning changed to E-T-M, a category that permitted a supermarket.

Zoning Bribe: $52,000

The biggest hurdle was Teotihuacán’s zoning map. It clearly prohibited commercial development where Wal-Mart wanted to build. Wal-Mart de Mexico authorized a $52,000 bribe payment to have the map altered, records and interviews show.

Show the alteredoriginal map

Traffic Bribe: $25,900

Wal-Mart wanted to build by the main entrance into Teotihuacán, in a spot already choked with traffic. Wal-Mart de Mexico authorized a $25,900 bribe payment to gain the approval of local traffic authorities, records and interviews show.

Archaeology Bribe: Up to $81,000

Wal-Mart could not build by the pyramids without a permit from the agency that protects Mexico’s cultural landmarks. Wal-Mart de Mexico offered a “donation” of up to $45,000 and a “personal gift” of up to $36,000 in exchange for the permit, records and interviews show.

Political Bribe: $114,000

Facing certain opposition from local merchants and residents, Wal-Mart de Mexico executives agreed to pay $114,000 in bribes to guarantee the support of Teotihuacán’s mayor and his allies on the municipal council, records and interviews show.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/business/walmart-bribery-abroad-series.html