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The nation’s largest distributor of wine and spirits will pay $12.5 million to the U.S. Treasury to escape criminal bribery charges under an agreement with federal prosecutors in San Francisco.
Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits LLC made improper payments and provided gifts, travel and other benefits to employees of retail customers, according to the non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California dated Sept. 10.
California is Southern Glazers’ largest market and is the state’s largest distributor of alcohol by volume, according to prosecutors.
The company, based in Miami, provided off-book “creative incentive” payments and improper gifts, travel, cash/gift cards, and other benefits to employees of its retail customers, such as buyers for chain grocery stores, prosecutors said.
The decision not to prosecute reflects the company’s reinforcement of compliance and ethics to all employees and mitigated known violations of trade practice regulations, according to prosecutors.
It has restructured its leadership to enhance compliance, including the addition of outside experts to advise it on best practices, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Southern Glazer’s employs more than 24,000 people nationwide and operates in 46 states and the District of Columbia, including California, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii, prosecutors said.
The agreement resolves the federal criminal investigation into the company, prosecutors said. They said the Justice Department, Treasury Department, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau and IRS agreed to take no further action.
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