Enron's business practices being questioned at home and abroad: a U.S. Justice Department investigation is focusing on whether Enron's overseas division bribed foreign officials to win contracts for pipeline, power and water projects

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Sept 16, 2002 | by Christian Bourge

He believes that although there is ideological disagreement about the effects of international corporate development, many American companies are doing a great deal of good with the help of government-backed lending. "Building power plants in places like India and Brazil has a positive developmental effect on the private lives of poor people," he says.

As to the substance of the charges against Enron, Morici believes that companies that build power plants in developing nations are vulnerable to shady dealings because of the way in which business is conducted in such countries. Practices such as outright bribery, which are not tolerated in the developed world, often are endemic in these cultures and are the key to getting projects under way, he says.

He notes that federal authorities often grant a degree of latitude to corporations operating in developing nations regarding these practices, given the significant political and economic risks they often face. "The Justice Department does [typically] provide some latitude in this regard," Morici says. "I am not surprised that they [Enron] have been engaged in activities that could be subject to scrutiny. But they [the Justice Department] are turning to these laws to pursue them in a way that shows Enron has not been a good corporate citizen domestically."

CHRISTIAN BOURGE WRITES FOR UPI.