Textron agrees to $1.15 million fine

Washington - Textron has agreed to pay a $1.15 million fine in connection with reported kickbacks in the U.N. "oil for food¨ program, the U.S. Justice Department says.

The agency said Textron, a Delaware corporation based in Providence, R.I., had accepted responsibility for the actions of several of its French subsidiaries, whose employees and agents allegedly made improper payments to the Iraqi government in order to obtain contracts.

In a related SEC civil injunctive action filed earlier Thursday, Textron agreed to pay approximately $3.5 million in disgorgement and civil penalties.

The original report said three of Textron's David Brown French subsidiaries in its Fluid and Power Business Unit paid about $600,000 to the Iraqi government by inflating the price of contracts by 10 percent in 2000-2003.

The Justice Department has agreed not to file criminal charges.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International.