Bribery, Retailer | featured news

The Indian joint venture of Wal-Mart Stores Inc has suspended its chief financial officer and other employees as it investigates alleged violations of U.S. anti-bribery laws, a development that could hamper India's efforts to open its domestic supermarket sector to foreign investment.

Claims that U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart used payoffs to speed zoning and other permits in its break-neck Mexican expansion are sparking soul-searching in Mexico, where crowded government offices are the working grounds of shadowy facilitators known as "gestores."

Two Democratic lawmakers on Monday said they are launching an investigation into allegations of bribery at Wal-Mart Stores Inc's Mexican affiliate.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world's largest retailer, squelched an internal investigation into allegations of bribery at its Mexican subsidiary instead of broadening the probe, the New York Times reported on Saturday.