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UK executive accused in GlaxoSmithKline China probe UK executive accused in GlaxoSmithKline China probe
(about 1 hour later)
Chinese authorities have accused a British GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) executive of ordering staff to bribe hospital officials to use its products.Chinese authorities have accused a British GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) executive of ordering staff to bribe hospital officials to use its products.
The move helped generate billions of yuan in "illegal revenue", police said.The move helped generate billions of yuan in "illegal revenue", police said.
The UK man, Mark Reilly, and two other colleagues were also suspected of bribing government officials in Beijing and Shanghai, they said.The UK man, Mark Reilly, and two other colleagues were also suspected of bribing government officials in Beijing and Shanghai, they said.
Police had finished their investigation and passed the case to prosecutors, officials said.Police had finished their investigation and passed the case to prosecutors, officials said.
Chinese authorities announced in July last year that they were investigating GSK, detaining four Chinese GSK executives.Chinese authorities announced in July last year that they were investigating GSK, detaining four Chinese GSK executives.
They accused the drug-maker of using travel agencies and consultancies to transfer hundreds of millions in bribes over several years. Polish allegations
In a statement, the police ministry accused Mr Reilly, the company's former head of China operations, of personally running a "massive bribery network".
He is alleged to have pressed his sales team to pay doctors, hospital officials and health institutions to use GSK products, resulting in the "illegal revenue" of hundreds of millions of dollars.
One investigator said that he believed Mr Reilly to still be in China.
The Chinese authorities, when they began investigating GSK last year, accused it of using travel agencies and consultancies to transfer hundreds of millions in bribes over several years.
GSK said then that it was co-operating with the investigation and that it had zero tolerance for such behaviour.GSK said then that it was co-operating with the investigation and that it had zero tolerance for such behaviour.
It has already apologised for employees apparently acting outside of its internal controls, reports the BBC's John Sudworth in Shanghai, but denies the sums of money are anything like as high as those alleged to have been paid. It has already apologised for employees apparently acting outside of its internal controls, but denies the sums of money are anything like as high as those alleged to have been paid.
GSK "departments offered bribes to hospitals and doctors as well as personnel to boost their sales. The money involved was in the billions of yuan [hundreds of millions of dollars]", a ministry of public security official told a Beijing press conference. The drugs-maker is facing a criminal investigation into similar allegations in Poland.
Mr Reilly, the company's former head of China operations, is believed to be inside China, according to an investigator. It follows allegations made by former sales rep Jarek Wisniewski to the BBC's Panorama programme in April that doctors were paid to promote GSK's asthma drug Seretide.
If the allegations in either country are proved, GSK may have violated both the UK Bribery Act and the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. It is illegal for companies based in the US or UK to bribe government employees abroad.