For its help with the fire-safety problem, Anyuan requested an unusual form of payment.
安遠(yuǎn)同意幫忙解決防火安全問(wèn)題，并要求奧林巴斯以一種不尋常的方式支付報(bào)酬。
In October 2011, Olympus hired an Anyuan-affiliated company as a contractor at the factory, according to multiple Olympus documents. The affiliate’s official job was to to provide catering, cleaning and security services to the employee cafeteria. But the affiliate, called An Ping Tai, was established just three days before it took on the contract, and it listed a nonexistent office as its address, the internal inquiry found. The affiliate appeared to exist only on paper.
奧林巴斯的多份文件顯示，2011年10月，安遠(yuǎn)的一家附屬公司受雇成為奧林巴斯工廠的承包商。至于該附屬公司的職責(zé)，公開(kāi)說(shuō)法是為奧林巴斯員工食堂提供餐飲、保潔和安保服務(wù)。但這家名叫安平泰（音）的附屬公司是在合同簽訂三天前剛剛成立的，而且?jiàn)W林巴斯內(nèi)部調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，它將一個(gè)并不存在的辦公室登記為自己的辦公地址。它似乎只存在于紙面上。
“An Ping Tai seems to be a shell company without substantial operations,” lawyers at a Western law firm said in a confidential report prepared for Olympus in 2014, before the company decided to open a formal inquiry.
“安平泰看來(lái)是一家空殼公司，并未實(shí)際運(yùn)營(yíng)，”奧林巴斯決定展開(kāi)正式調(diào)查前，一家西方律所的律師在2014年為其準(zhǔn)備的一份秘密報(bào)告里說(shuō)。
According to the internal investigation, Olympus paid the affiliate at least 1.2 million renminbi, or about $180,000, in several upfront payments, followed by unspecified monthly service fees and other compensation. Some of the money was drawn from what the inquiry called a “slush fund” that was hidden from Olympus’s official accounts.
內(nèi)部調(diào)查顯示，奧林巴斯向安平泰支付過(guò)幾筆預(yù)付款，總金額至少為120萬(wàn)元，約合18萬(wàn)美元，隨后每月都向其支付名目含混的服務(wù)費(fèi)和其他補(bǔ)貼。有些錢來(lái)自調(diào)查人員口中的“行賄基金”——該基金不在奧林巴斯的官方戶頭之列。
Olympus made other off-the-books payments to Anyuan, the internal inquiry found. In 2014, managers in Shenzhen diverted to An Ping Tai rent money that Olympus had collected from employees who lived in company dormitories. The managers then “covered up” the payments by describing them in financial reports as maintenance fees, the inquiry found.
內(nèi)部調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，奧林巴斯還向安遠(yuǎn)支付過(guò)沒(méi)被財(cái)務(wù)部門登記在冊(cè)的其他款項(xiàng)。2014年，深圳的經(jīng)理把他們從住在公司宿舍的員工那里收上來(lái)的租金劃到了安平泰賬上，隨后在財(cái)務(wù)報(bào)告中遮遮掩掩，將這筆支出描述為維修費(fèi)。
The $694 Million Discrepancy
高達(dá)6.94億美元的差額
The customs dispute at Olympus stretched back to 2006, when inspectors in Shenzhen found discrepancies with the factory’s inventory records, according to the internal inquiry and managers’ memos reviewed by The Times.
奧林巴斯和海關(guān)的那起糾紛可以追溯到2006年，內(nèi)部調(diào)查及《時(shí)報(bào)》查閱的經(jīng)理備忘錄顯示，那一年，深圳海關(guān)的檢查人員發(fā)現(xiàn)該工廠的庫(kù)存記錄存在矛盾之處。
Foreign companies in the city’s special manufacturing zone are allowed to import duty-free raw materials on the condition that the products they assemble there are exported to other countries. They must not be sold in China, where they would compete unfairly with local goods.
深圳經(jīng)濟(jì)特區(qū)里的外國(guó)企業(yè)可以進(jìn)口免稅原材料，前提條件是把在特區(qū)組裝的產(chǎn)品出口到其他國(guó)家。這些產(chǎn)品不得在中國(guó)境內(nèi)銷售，否則就會(huì)讓當(dāng)?shù)禺a(chǎn)品面臨不公平競(jìng)爭(zhēng)。
The customs inspectors discovered that the volume of materials that Olympus was importing into the zone did not match the finished components that it was shipping out. Such discrepancies can indicate that a company is violating the no-selling-in-China rule.
深圳海關(guān)的檢察人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，奧林巴斯進(jìn)口到特區(qū)的原材料數(shù)量，與其運(yùn)往國(guó)外的成品組件數(shù)量不匹配。出現(xiàn)這種差異，說(shuō)明一家公司可能正在違反不得在中國(guó)境內(nèi)銷售相關(guān)產(chǎn)品的規(guī)定。
The value of the discrepancy, $694 million, was so large that Olympus said it could only be explained by data-entry error. By way of comparison, Olympus sold only about $600 million worth of digital cameras worldwide last year. The internal inquiry blamed the problem on “simple operational mistakes” by workers logging inventory in record-keeping software.
兩者之間的差額為6.94億美元，這一金額是如此巨大，以至于奧林巴斯方面稱，可能的解釋就是數(shù)據(jù)錄入錯(cuò)誤。相比之下，去年奧林巴斯數(shù)碼相機(jī)的全球銷售額為6億美元。內(nèi)部調(diào)查組將問(wèn)題歸咎為工人把庫(kù)存數(shù)據(jù)錄入記錄軟件時(shí)犯下的“簡(jiǎn)單的操作性錯(cuò)誤”。
The customs authorities were unpersuaded.
海關(guān)*并不認(rèn)可這種說(shuō)法。
After years of back-and-forth with Olympus, officials threatened to levy at least 60 million renminbi, or $9.2 million, in fines and unpaid import tariffs, according the Olympus documents. In one memo, managers in Shenzhen said the fine could end up being 40 times as large, though the Western law firm’s report questioned the legal basis for that estimate in its 2014 report.
奧林巴斯的文件顯示，海關(guān)官員在和該公司反復(fù)交涉數(shù)年之后，揚(yáng)言至少要讓其繳納罰金并補(bǔ)繳關(guān)稅共計(jì)6000萬(wàn)人民幣，約合920萬(wàn)美元。一份備忘錄顯示，深圳的經(jīng)理稱，罰金總額最終可能會(huì)是這個(gè)數(shù)字的40倍，不過(guò)，前文提到的西方律所的報(bào)告對(duì)這種估算的法律基礎(chǔ)提出了質(zhì)疑。
Customs authorities in Shenzhen declined to comment. The General Administration of Customs in Beijing, which oversees customs affairs nationally, said it did not comment on investigations.
深圳海關(guān)*拒絕置評(píng)。位于北京、負(fù)責(zé)監(jiān)管全國(guó)海關(guān)事務(wù)的海關(guān)總署稱其不對(duì)調(diào)查發(fā)表評(píng)論。
Managers also suggested in the memo that Olympus could lose its duty-free trading privileges in Shenzhen, a blow that would add costs to the already unprofitable camera business. Global digital camera sales have plunged by half in the last decade, hurt by the spread of camera-equipped smartphones.
備忘錄顯示，經(jīng)理們還提到，奧林巴斯或?qū)适г谏钲谙碛械拿舛愘Q(mào)易特權(quán)，如何真是這樣，便會(huì)拉高成本，讓原本就無(wú)利可圖的相機(jī)業(yè)務(wù)遭受沉重打擊。
Olympus employees had previously tried to curry favor with Chinese officials, the inquiry’s report suggested. Investigators found a proposal by a Chinese employee at the plant dated August 2011 to offer cash and cameras worth 20,000 renminbi, or about $3,000, to the head of the customs office’s antismuggling department. The report does not make clear if the plan was approved or carried out.
內(nèi)部調(diào)查報(bào)告顯示，奧林巴斯的雇員此前曾試圖巴結(jié)中國(guó)官員。調(diào)查人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，工廠的一名中國(guó)雇員在一份所注日期為2011年8月的建議書(shū)中提出，向深圳海關(guān)緝私部門負(fù)責(zé)人贈(zèng)送總價(jià)值為2萬(wàn)人民幣，約合3000美元的現(xiàn)金和相機(jī)。報(bào)告并未明示該計(jì)劃是否得到了批準(zhǔn)或執(zhí)行。
Anyuan proposed a more decisive intervention.
安遠(yuǎn)提出進(jìn)行更有效的干預(yù)。
The company told Olympus that it could resolve the problem quickly and relatively cheaply, the Shenzhen managers reported in mid-2013. Anyuan, they said, estimated it would cost Olympus half the amount that the customs authorities were threatening to impose in penalties.
深圳的經(jīng)理在2013年年中的報(bào)告里稱，安遠(yuǎn)告訴奧林巴斯，它能幫忙以相對(duì)低廉的成本快速處理這件事。經(jīng)理們稱，安遠(yuǎn)預(yù)計(jì)，奧林巴斯的花費(fèi)會(huì)是海關(guān)*揚(yáng)言收取的罰金數(shù)額的一半。
It was still a significant payment — equivalent to several million dollars. One manager in Shenzhen, the head of the accounting department at the factory, told the company inquiry that he suspected Anyuan would use part of the money to bribe Chinese officials. Discussions with Anyuan were handled by a Chinese Olympus employee, according to the inquiry.
這仍然是一筆非常大的支出——相當(dāng)于好幾百萬(wàn)美元。深圳的一位經(jīng)理——奧林巴斯工廠的會(huì)計(jì)部門負(fù)責(zé)人——告訴內(nèi)部調(diào)查人員，他懷疑安遠(yuǎn)會(huì)用其中一部分資金賄賂中國(guó)官員。調(diào)查顯示，負(fù)責(zé)與安遠(yuǎn)交涉的是奧林巴斯的一名中國(guó)雇員。
“My interpretation at the time, and still a possible interpretation now,” the accounting manager is quoted in the inquiry’s report as saying, was that the Chinese employee “was negotiating to deliver 100 million to 140 million renminbi in bribes to the government through Anyuan.”
“按我當(dāng)時(shí)的理解，或許也是現(xiàn)在的理解，”內(nèi)部調(diào)查報(bào)告中引用會(huì)計(jì)部經(jīng)理的原話稱，該中國(guó)雇員“和安遠(yuǎn)交涉的內(nèi)容是，通過(guò)安遠(yuǎn)把1億到1.4億元賄金送到政府官員手中?！?BR> The confidential inquiry said there was no documentary evidence to prove the manager’s claim. Other managers told investigators they had no reason to think Anyuan was bribing Chinese officials.
秘密調(diào)查組稱，沒(méi)有任何書(shū)面憑據(jù)能夠證明會(huì)計(jì)部經(jīng)理的說(shuō)辭。其他經(jīng)理告訴調(diào)查人員，他們沒(méi)理由認(rèn)為安遠(yuǎn)要賄賂中國(guó)官員。
Once again, the plan involved an unorthodox form of payment.
不過(guò)，該計(jì)劃同樣涉及不尋常的付款方式。
Olympus, the documents show, proposed a real estate transaction. Olympus would sell two dormitory buildings in Shenzhen to the Anyuan affiliate. The sale price would be set well below the buildings’ market value, according to the confidential report from the Western law firm. The deal would reward Anyuan, but more discreetly than a cash payment.
文件顯示，奧林巴斯提議進(jìn)行一項(xiàng)房地產(chǎn)交易。奧林巴斯可以把它在深圳的兩棟宿舍樓賣給安遠(yuǎn)的附屬公司。前述西方律所的秘密報(bào)告顯示，售價(jià)會(huì)遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)低于市場(chǎng)價(jià)。通過(guò)這樣的交易既能把報(bào)酬支付給安遠(yuǎn)，又比現(xiàn)金付款更加隱蔽。
Senior Olympus executives would have to sign off, and they were nervous. The reports and memos showed a debate ensued between Tokyo executives and the Asia-Pacific office, based in Hong Kong, over who would bear responsibility for the decision. Executives knew about the bribery accusations against Mr. Chen and were concerned about legal risks, according to the documents.
這項(xiàng)交易必須獲得奧林巴斯高管的批準(zhǔn)，他們?yōu)榇朔浅＝箲]。相關(guān)報(bào)告和備忘錄顯示，東京的高管和位于香港的亞太區(qū)辦公室之間繼而有過(guò)一場(chǎng)討論，主題是誰(shuí)將為這一決定負(fù)責(zé)。文件稱，高管們知道陳族遠(yuǎn)曾被指行賄，擔(dān)心存在法律風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。
At one point, the Olympus president, Hiroyuki Sasa; chairman, Yasuyuki Kimoto, who retired last year; and two other board members in Tokyo told subordinates in Hong Kong and Shenzhen to move forward with the real estate deal, according to the report by the Western law firm. Managers in Shenzhen were instructed “not to leave any written evidence of the purpose behind the transaction,” the law firm found. Email memos on the matter were labeled “top secret.”
前述西方律所的報(bào)告顯示，奧林巴斯總裁笹宏行(Hiroyuki Sasa) 、董事長(zhǎng)木本泰行（Yasuyuki Kimoto，已于去年退休）以及身在東京的另外兩名董事，曾要求香港和深圳的下屬推進(jìn)這項(xiàng)房地產(chǎn)交易。該律所發(fā)現(xiàn)，深圳的經(jīng)理得到的指令是“不要留下與交易背后的目的相關(guān)的任何書(shū)面證據(jù)”。提到此事的電郵備忘錄都被加上了“”標(biāo)簽。
There are conflicting accounts of what happened next. According to the inquiry, Olympus balked at the dormitory sale at the last minute, judging it too risky. But managers in Shenzhen had already signed a deal, which Anyuan claimed contained clauses promising the sale.
關(guān)于接下來(lái)發(fā)生的事情，存在相互矛盾的說(shuō)法。調(diào)查組稱，奧林巴斯在最后一刻取消了出售宿舍樓的交易，因?yàn)橛X(jué)得風(fēng)險(xiǎn)太大。但深圳的經(jīng)理已經(jīng)簽署了一份協(xié)議，安遠(yuǎn)稱協(xié)議中包含承諾出售宿舍樓的條款。
In the end, Olympus paid Anyuan 24 million renminbi, or $3.7 million, in cash, through its affiliate An Ping Tai, according the inquiry. Olympus declined to comment on details of its arrangement with Anyuan, beyond saying it was “one of many contractual relationships” it maintained in the normal course of its business.
調(diào)查顯示，奧林巴斯最終通過(guò)安平泰向安遠(yuǎn)支付了2400萬(wàn)人民幣現(xiàn)金，約合370萬(wàn)美元現(xiàn)金。奧林巴斯拒絕就它和安遠(yuǎn)之間的協(xié)議置評(píng)，僅稱其為“許多種合同關(guān)系中的一種”，沒(méi)有超出正常的業(yè)務(wù)范疇。
In August 2014, eight months after its managers signed the deal with Anyuan, Olympus was informed that it would not be fined or otherwise punished for the inventory-recording discrepancy, according to the inquiry.
內(nèi)部調(diào)查顯示，在其經(jīng)理與安遠(yuǎn)簽訂協(xié)議八個(gè)月之后，奧林巴斯于2014年8月收到通知，它不會(huì)因?yàn)閹?kù)存記錄中存在的相互矛盾之處被處以罰款，也不會(huì)受到其他形式的處罰。
“In the end, a fine that had been estimated at least 60 million renminbi was not levied at all,” the inquiry found.
調(diào)查人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，“最終，公司并未收到一筆據(jù)估計(jì)至少為6000萬(wàn)人民幣的罰單?！?
安遠(yuǎn)同意幫忙解決防火安全問(wèn)題，并要求奧林巴斯以一種不尋常的方式支付報(bào)酬。
In October 2011, Olympus hired an Anyuan-affiliated company as a contractor at the factory, according to multiple Olympus documents. The affiliate’s official job was to to provide catering, cleaning and security services to the employee cafeteria. But the affiliate, called An Ping Tai, was established just three days before it took on the contract, and it listed a nonexistent office as its address, the internal inquiry found. The affiliate appeared to exist only on paper.
奧林巴斯的多份文件顯示，2011年10月，安遠(yuǎn)的一家附屬公司受雇成為奧林巴斯工廠的承包商。至于該附屬公司的職責(zé)，公開(kāi)說(shuō)法是為奧林巴斯員工食堂提供餐飲、保潔和安保服務(wù)。但這家名叫安平泰（音）的附屬公司是在合同簽訂三天前剛剛成立的，而且?jiàn)W林巴斯內(nèi)部調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，它將一個(gè)并不存在的辦公室登記為自己的辦公地址。它似乎只存在于紙面上。
“An Ping Tai seems to be a shell company without substantial operations,” lawyers at a Western law firm said in a confidential report prepared for Olympus in 2014, before the company decided to open a formal inquiry.
“安平泰看來(lái)是一家空殼公司，并未實(shí)際運(yùn)營(yíng)，”奧林巴斯決定展開(kāi)正式調(diào)查前，一家西方律所的律師在2014年為其準(zhǔn)備的一份秘密報(bào)告里說(shuō)。
According to the internal investigation, Olympus paid the affiliate at least 1.2 million renminbi, or about $180,000, in several upfront payments, followed by unspecified monthly service fees and other compensation. Some of the money was drawn from what the inquiry called a “slush fund” that was hidden from Olympus’s official accounts.
內(nèi)部調(diào)查顯示，奧林巴斯向安平泰支付過(guò)幾筆預(yù)付款，總金額至少為120萬(wàn)元，約合18萬(wàn)美元，隨后每月都向其支付名目含混的服務(wù)費(fèi)和其他補(bǔ)貼。有些錢來(lái)自調(diào)查人員口中的“行賄基金”——該基金不在奧林巴斯的官方戶頭之列。
Olympus made other off-the-books payments to Anyuan, the internal inquiry found. In 2014, managers in Shenzhen diverted to An Ping Tai rent money that Olympus had collected from employees who lived in company dormitories. The managers then “covered up” the payments by describing them in financial reports as maintenance fees, the inquiry found.
內(nèi)部調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，奧林巴斯還向安遠(yuǎn)支付過(guò)沒(méi)被財(cái)務(wù)部門登記在冊(cè)的其他款項(xiàng)。2014年，深圳的經(jīng)理把他們從住在公司宿舍的員工那里收上來(lái)的租金劃到了安平泰賬上，隨后在財(cái)務(wù)報(bào)告中遮遮掩掩，將這筆支出描述為維修費(fèi)。
The $694 Million Discrepancy
高達(dá)6.94億美元的差額
The customs dispute at Olympus stretched back to 2006, when inspectors in Shenzhen found discrepancies with the factory’s inventory records, according to the internal inquiry and managers’ memos reviewed by The Times.
奧林巴斯和海關(guān)的那起糾紛可以追溯到2006年，內(nèi)部調(diào)查及《時(shí)報(bào)》查閱的經(jīng)理備忘錄顯示，那一年，深圳海關(guān)的檢查人員發(fā)現(xiàn)該工廠的庫(kù)存記錄存在矛盾之處。
Foreign companies in the city’s special manufacturing zone are allowed to import duty-free raw materials on the condition that the products they assemble there are exported to other countries. They must not be sold in China, where they would compete unfairly with local goods.
深圳經(jīng)濟(jì)特區(qū)里的外國(guó)企業(yè)可以進(jìn)口免稅原材料，前提條件是把在特區(qū)組裝的產(chǎn)品出口到其他國(guó)家。這些產(chǎn)品不得在中國(guó)境內(nèi)銷售，否則就會(huì)讓當(dāng)?shù)禺a(chǎn)品面臨不公平競(jìng)爭(zhēng)。
The customs inspectors discovered that the volume of materials that Olympus was importing into the zone did not match the finished components that it was shipping out. Such discrepancies can indicate that a company is violating the no-selling-in-China rule.
深圳海關(guān)的檢察人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，奧林巴斯進(jìn)口到特區(qū)的原材料數(shù)量，與其運(yùn)往國(guó)外的成品組件數(shù)量不匹配。出現(xiàn)這種差異，說(shuō)明一家公司可能正在違反不得在中國(guó)境內(nèi)銷售相關(guān)產(chǎn)品的規(guī)定。
The value of the discrepancy, $694 million, was so large that Olympus said it could only be explained by data-entry error. By way of comparison, Olympus sold only about $600 million worth of digital cameras worldwide last year. The internal inquiry blamed the problem on “simple operational mistakes” by workers logging inventory in record-keeping software.
兩者之間的差額為6.94億美元，這一金額是如此巨大，以至于奧林巴斯方面稱，可能的解釋就是數(shù)據(jù)錄入錯(cuò)誤。相比之下，去年奧林巴斯數(shù)碼相機(jī)的全球銷售額為6億美元。內(nèi)部調(diào)查組將問(wèn)題歸咎為工人把庫(kù)存數(shù)據(jù)錄入記錄軟件時(shí)犯下的“簡(jiǎn)單的操作性錯(cuò)誤”。
The customs authorities were unpersuaded.
海關(guān)*并不認(rèn)可這種說(shuō)法。
After years of back-and-forth with Olympus, officials threatened to levy at least 60 million renminbi, or $9.2 million, in fines and unpaid import tariffs, according the Olympus documents. In one memo, managers in Shenzhen said the fine could end up being 40 times as large, though the Western law firm’s report questioned the legal basis for that estimate in its 2014 report.
奧林巴斯的文件顯示，海關(guān)官員在和該公司反復(fù)交涉數(shù)年之后，揚(yáng)言至少要讓其繳納罰金并補(bǔ)繳關(guān)稅共計(jì)6000萬(wàn)人民幣，約合920萬(wàn)美元。一份備忘錄顯示，深圳的經(jīng)理稱，罰金總額最終可能會(huì)是這個(gè)數(shù)字的40倍，不過(guò)，前文提到的西方律所的報(bào)告對(duì)這種估算的法律基礎(chǔ)提出了質(zhì)疑。
Customs authorities in Shenzhen declined to comment. The General Administration of Customs in Beijing, which oversees customs affairs nationally, said it did not comment on investigations.
深圳海關(guān)*拒絕置評(píng)。位于北京、負(fù)責(zé)監(jiān)管全國(guó)海關(guān)事務(wù)的海關(guān)總署稱其不對(duì)調(diào)查發(fā)表評(píng)論。
Managers also suggested in the memo that Olympus could lose its duty-free trading privileges in Shenzhen, a blow that would add costs to the already unprofitable camera business. Global digital camera sales have plunged by half in the last decade, hurt by the spread of camera-equipped smartphones.
備忘錄顯示，經(jīng)理們還提到，奧林巴斯或?qū)适г谏钲谙碛械拿舛愘Q(mào)易特權(quán)，如何真是這樣，便會(huì)拉高成本，讓原本就無(wú)利可圖的相機(jī)業(yè)務(wù)遭受沉重打擊。
Olympus employees had previously tried to curry favor with Chinese officials, the inquiry’s report suggested. Investigators found a proposal by a Chinese employee at the plant dated August 2011 to offer cash and cameras worth 20,000 renminbi, or about $3,000, to the head of the customs office’s antismuggling department. The report does not make clear if the plan was approved or carried out.
內(nèi)部調(diào)查報(bào)告顯示，奧林巴斯的雇員此前曾試圖巴結(jié)中國(guó)官員。調(diào)查人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，工廠的一名中國(guó)雇員在一份所注日期為2011年8月的建議書(shū)中提出，向深圳海關(guān)緝私部門負(fù)責(zé)人贈(zèng)送總價(jià)值為2萬(wàn)人民幣，約合3000美元的現(xiàn)金和相機(jī)。報(bào)告并未明示該計(jì)劃是否得到了批準(zhǔn)或執(zhí)行。
Anyuan proposed a more decisive intervention.
安遠(yuǎn)提出進(jìn)行更有效的干預(yù)。
The company told Olympus that it could resolve the problem quickly and relatively cheaply, the Shenzhen managers reported in mid-2013. Anyuan, they said, estimated it would cost Olympus half the amount that the customs authorities were threatening to impose in penalties.
深圳的經(jīng)理在2013年年中的報(bào)告里稱，安遠(yuǎn)告訴奧林巴斯，它能幫忙以相對(duì)低廉的成本快速處理這件事。經(jīng)理們稱，安遠(yuǎn)預(yù)計(jì)，奧林巴斯的花費(fèi)會(huì)是海關(guān)*揚(yáng)言收取的罰金數(shù)額的一半。
It was still a significant payment — equivalent to several million dollars. One manager in Shenzhen, the head of the accounting department at the factory, told the company inquiry that he suspected Anyuan would use part of the money to bribe Chinese officials. Discussions with Anyuan were handled by a Chinese Olympus employee, according to the inquiry.
這仍然是一筆非常大的支出——相當(dāng)于好幾百萬(wàn)美元。深圳的一位經(jīng)理——奧林巴斯工廠的會(huì)計(jì)部門負(fù)責(zé)人——告訴內(nèi)部調(diào)查人員，他懷疑安遠(yuǎn)會(huì)用其中一部分資金賄賂中國(guó)官員。調(diào)查顯示，負(fù)責(zé)與安遠(yuǎn)交涉的是奧林巴斯的一名中國(guó)雇員。
“My interpretation at the time, and still a possible interpretation now,” the accounting manager is quoted in the inquiry’s report as saying, was that the Chinese employee “was negotiating to deliver 100 million to 140 million renminbi in bribes to the government through Anyuan.”
“按我當(dāng)時(shí)的理解，或許也是現(xiàn)在的理解，”內(nèi)部調(diào)查報(bào)告中引用會(huì)計(jì)部經(jīng)理的原話稱，該中國(guó)雇員“和安遠(yuǎn)交涉的內(nèi)容是，通過(guò)安遠(yuǎn)把1億到1.4億元賄金送到政府官員手中?！?BR> The confidential inquiry said there was no documentary evidence to prove the manager’s claim. Other managers told investigators they had no reason to think Anyuan was bribing Chinese officials.
秘密調(diào)查組稱，沒(méi)有任何書(shū)面憑據(jù)能夠證明會(huì)計(jì)部經(jīng)理的說(shuō)辭。其他經(jīng)理告訴調(diào)查人員，他們沒(méi)理由認(rèn)為安遠(yuǎn)要賄賂中國(guó)官員。
Once again, the plan involved an unorthodox form of payment.
不過(guò)，該計(jì)劃同樣涉及不尋常的付款方式。
Olympus, the documents show, proposed a real estate transaction. Olympus would sell two dormitory buildings in Shenzhen to the Anyuan affiliate. The sale price would be set well below the buildings’ market value, according to the confidential report from the Western law firm. The deal would reward Anyuan, but more discreetly than a cash payment.
文件顯示，奧林巴斯提議進(jìn)行一項(xiàng)房地產(chǎn)交易。奧林巴斯可以把它在深圳的兩棟宿舍樓賣給安遠(yuǎn)的附屬公司。前述西方律所的秘密報(bào)告顯示，售價(jià)會(huì)遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)低于市場(chǎng)價(jià)。通過(guò)這樣的交易既能把報(bào)酬支付給安遠(yuǎn)，又比現(xiàn)金付款更加隱蔽。
Senior Olympus executives would have to sign off, and they were nervous. The reports and memos showed a debate ensued between Tokyo executives and the Asia-Pacific office, based in Hong Kong, over who would bear responsibility for the decision. Executives knew about the bribery accusations against Mr. Chen and were concerned about legal risks, according to the documents.
這項(xiàng)交易必須獲得奧林巴斯高管的批準(zhǔn)，他們?yōu)榇朔浅＝箲]。相關(guān)報(bào)告和備忘錄顯示，東京的高管和位于香港的亞太區(qū)辦公室之間繼而有過(guò)一場(chǎng)討論，主題是誰(shuí)將為這一決定負(fù)責(zé)。文件稱，高管們知道陳族遠(yuǎn)曾被指行賄，擔(dān)心存在法律風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。
At one point, the Olympus president, Hiroyuki Sasa; chairman, Yasuyuki Kimoto, who retired last year; and two other board members in Tokyo told subordinates in Hong Kong and Shenzhen to move forward with the real estate deal, according to the report by the Western law firm. Managers in Shenzhen were instructed “not to leave any written evidence of the purpose behind the transaction,” the law firm found. Email memos on the matter were labeled “top secret.”
前述西方律所的報(bào)告顯示，奧林巴斯總裁笹宏行(Hiroyuki Sasa) 、董事長(zhǎng)木本泰行（Yasuyuki Kimoto，已于去年退休）以及身在東京的另外兩名董事，曾要求香港和深圳的下屬推進(jìn)這項(xiàng)房地產(chǎn)交易。該律所發(fā)現(xiàn)，深圳的經(jīng)理得到的指令是“不要留下與交易背后的目的相關(guān)的任何書(shū)面證據(jù)”。提到此事的電郵備忘錄都被加上了“”標(biāo)簽。
There are conflicting accounts of what happened next. According to the inquiry, Olympus balked at the dormitory sale at the last minute, judging it too risky. But managers in Shenzhen had already signed a deal, which Anyuan claimed contained clauses promising the sale.
關(guān)于接下來(lái)發(fā)生的事情，存在相互矛盾的說(shuō)法。調(diào)查組稱，奧林巴斯在最后一刻取消了出售宿舍樓的交易，因?yàn)橛X(jué)得風(fēng)險(xiǎn)太大。但深圳的經(jīng)理已經(jīng)簽署了一份協(xié)議，安遠(yuǎn)稱協(xié)議中包含承諾出售宿舍樓的條款。
In the end, Olympus paid Anyuan 24 million renminbi, or $3.7 million, in cash, through its affiliate An Ping Tai, according the inquiry. Olympus declined to comment on details of its arrangement with Anyuan, beyond saying it was “one of many contractual relationships” it maintained in the normal course of its business.
調(diào)查顯示，奧林巴斯最終通過(guò)安平泰向安遠(yuǎn)支付了2400萬(wàn)人民幣現(xiàn)金，約合370萬(wàn)美元現(xiàn)金。奧林巴斯拒絕就它和安遠(yuǎn)之間的協(xié)議置評(píng)，僅稱其為“許多種合同關(guān)系中的一種”，沒(méi)有超出正常的業(yè)務(wù)范疇。
In August 2014, eight months after its managers signed the deal with Anyuan, Olympus was informed that it would not be fined or otherwise punished for the inventory-recording discrepancy, according to the inquiry.
內(nèi)部調(diào)查顯示，在其經(jīng)理與安遠(yuǎn)簽訂協(xié)議八個(gè)月之后，奧林巴斯于2014年8月收到通知，它不會(huì)因?yàn)閹?kù)存記錄中存在的相互矛盾之處被處以罰款，也不會(huì)受到其他形式的處罰。
“In the end, a fine that had been estimated at least 60 million renminbi was not levied at all,” the inquiry found.
調(diào)查人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，“最終，公司并未收到一筆據(jù)估計(jì)至少為6000萬(wàn)人民幣的罰單?！?