GLAXOSMITHKLINE has been accused of behaving like a criminal "godfather" in China, dispensing 3 billion yuan (£323m) in bribes over the past six years. Chinese police say they have identified more than 700 middlemen through whom the pharmaceutical giant allegedly bribed doctors to prescribe GSK medication. Four executives have been detained: Zhao Hongyan, 41, GSK's legal counsel and head of compliance, Liang Hong, 49, vice-president in charge of operations, Huang Hong, 45, in charge of commercial development and Zhang Guowei, 50, the company's human resources director. The company is also accused of unspecified "tax-related crimes". According to Reuters, China is an increasingly important country for international drug-makers, who now rely on growth in emerging markets to offset poor sales in Western markets where many former best-selling medicines have lost patent protection. Earlier this month, Chinese authorities announced they were investigating corruption at GSK. In response, the British pharmaceutical producer launched an internal investigation and claimed it found no evidence of wrongdoing at the company. Gao Feng, the head of the economic crimes investigation unit at the Ministry of Public Security, said the Chinese police are "willing to work closely with our overseas partners to fight this serious crime". GSK apparently used "travel agencies" to dispense the bribes. The Chinese media named Shanghai Linjiang International Travel Agency as one of these firms, saying the company "never had any business in tourism, but its turnover rose to tens of millions." These travel agencies would allegedly invent corporate meetings and the budget for the fake meetings would then be used to bribe doctors to prescribe GSK drugs. Gao Feng also said senior GSK executives had been drawn into close relationships with some of the middlemen, who would give them both financial and "sexual favours" in order to win their business. "You could say the travel agencies and GSK were criminal partners," he said. "Among the partners, GSK was mainly responsible. In a criminal organisation there is always a leader. In this game, GSK is the godfather."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'A direct, protracted war with Israel is not something Iran is equipped to fight'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Today's political cartoons - April 17, 2024Cartoons Wednesday's cartoons - political anxiety, jury sorting hat, and more
-
Arid Gulf states hit with year's worth of rainSpeed Read The historic flooding in Dubai is tied to climate change
-
Labour shortages: the ‘most urgent problem’ facing the UK economy right nowSpeed Read Britain is currently in the grip of an ‘employment crisis’
-
Will the energy war hurt Europe more than Russia?Speed Read European Commission proposes a total ban on Russian oil
-
Will Elon Musk manage to take over Twitter?Speed Read The world’s richest man has launched a hostile takeover bid worth $43bn
-
Unilever/Glaxo mega-merger: a very bad idea?Under the Radar History certainly suggests that giant deals like this tend to ‘destroy value’
-
Shoppers urged not to buy into dodgy Black Friday dealsSpeed Read Consumer watchdog says better prices can be had on most of the so-called bargain offers
-
Ryanair: readying for departure from LondonSpeed Read Plans to delist Ryanair from the London Stock Exchange could spell ‘another blow’ to the ‘dwindling’ London market
-
Out of fashion: Asos ‘curse’ has struck againSpeed Read Share price tumbles following the departure of CEO Nick Beighton
-
Universal Music’s blockbuster listing: don’t stop me now…Speed Read Investors are betting heavily that the ‘boom in music streaming’, which has transformed Universal’s fortunes, ‘still has a long way to go’
