Novartis to Settle SEC Bribery Allegations in China

Swiss drug giant Novartis will shell out roughly $25 million to the SEC to settle bribery allegations in China.

According to the SEC, employees of Novartis subsidiaries made payments to Chinese healthcare providers from 2009 to 2013 to help boost product sales.

The SEC order alleges that two sales representatives from Sandoz China, based in Shanghai, submitted fake receipts worth roughly $8,100 as part of employee expense reimbursement requests, which were instead used to entertain and provide gifts to healthcare providers.