Shares of Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT, Stock Forum) fell more than 4% to $59.73 in early Monday trading as the retail giant's Mexican subsidiary reportedly used bribery to expand its growth there.
The New York Times reported on Saturday that in September 2005, a senior Wal-Mart lawyer received an email from Sergio Cicero Zapata, a former executive at the company's largest foreign unit, Wal-Mart de Mexico, describing how the subsidiary had paid bribes to obtain permits to build stores in the country.
Wal-Mart sent investigators to Mexico City and found a paper trail of hundreds of suspect payments totaling more than $24 million, but the company's leaders shut down the investigation and neglected to notify U.S. or Mexican law enforcement officials, this according to the New York Times.