US Company Offered Bribes to Korea Hydro

A California-based valve company pleaded guilty in connection with conspiring to pay about $628,000 in bribes to foreign government officials in an effort to secure business contracts in South Korea and other countries, the Orange County Register reported this week.

The South Korean state-owned company that received kickbacks from the U.S. company is Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, a subsidiary of the Korea Electric Power Corporation, the newspaper said.

Richard Morlok, 55, of the U.S. company pleaded guilty in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The U.S. authorities didn't disclose the name of the valve company, citing further investigation for co-conspirator is underway.

The California company designes and manufactures service control valves for use in the nuclear, oil and gas, and power generation industries worldwide. The company sold its products in approximately 30 countries around the world, including South Korea, China and Romania.

Morlok, who faces five years in prison, was finance director at the valve company from 2002 to 2007 and was responsible for approving commission payments and signing off on wire transfers to the recipients of those payments.

Morlok said the company earned approximately $3.5 million in profits from the contracts it obtained as a result of these payments.

He is scheduled to be sentenced July 10.