RTX to pay over $280 million to resolve US foreign bribery probe

By Luc Cohen and Nate Raymond

NEW YORK (Reuters) -An RTX unit on Wednesday agreed to pay more than $280 million to resolve criminal charges brought by the U.S. Department of Justice stemming from a long-running foreign bribery probe.

Lawyers for RTX's Raytheon subsidiary appeared before a federal judge in Brooklyn after the company entered into a deferred prosecution agreement, which runs for 3-1/2 years, to resolve the charges.

The deal finalizes part of a series of settlements the Arlington, Virginia-based company said it expected to enter into with the Justice Department and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, for which it had set aside $959 million to cover.

The series of settlements would resolve long-running investigations that have hung over the company, formerly known as Raytheon Technologies, since 2019. The company merged with United Technologies in 2020 and changed its name last year.

The foreign bribery investigations examined the extent to which improper payments were made by Raytheon in connection with contracts in Middle Eastern countries dating back to 2014, RTX has said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Wiegel said that under the terms of Raytheon's agreement, the company had agreed to pay a criminal penalty of $252.3 million and forfeit $36.7 million, though it would get a $7.4 million credit against an expected related settlement with the SEC.

Raytheon was charged with conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and conspiring to violate the Arms Export Control Act.

Prosecutors have agreed to dismiss those charges after 3-1/2 years if it complies with the terms of the deferred prosecution agreement. RTX has said it also expected to be required to retain an independent compliance monitor.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York and Nate Raymond in Boston; editing by Jonathan Oatis)