Schnitzer steel to pay $15.2 million in fines.

Schnitzer Steel Industries, Portland, Ore., has agreed to pay two fines totaling $15.2 million. However, the company did not admit to or deny the findings of a Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) charge that it paid kickbacks to various managers of government-controlled steel mills in China from 1999 through 2004.

The fines included a $7.5 million criminal fine a $7.7 million civil penalty.

According to an SEC filing, Schnitzer made payments on its own behalf and as a broker for Japanese steel companies. During this period the company allegedly also paid bribes to managers of privately owned steel mills in China and South Korea and improperly concealed payments in its records. The SEC alleges that the company paid more than $205,000 in improper payments to managers of Chinese government-owned steel mills in 30 sales transactions.

In addition to this activity, Schnitzer also reportedly paid bribes to managers of privately owned steel companies in China and South Korea. Between 1999 and 2004, the company made more than $420,000 in improper payments to privately owned Chinese steel mills, while the company also paid managers of privately owned South Korean mills around $1,273,000 during the same period, the SEC alleges.

In May 2004, Schnitzer's compliance department reportedly uncovered the improper payments and began investigating the potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977. The SEC notes that while a senior executive at Schnitzer prohibited any further payments, the executive did authorize the company employees to pay at least two additional bribes that the company previously had promised private customers.