Uh-oh. It appears that Samsung's American Division has been charged with
deceiving the US government. The tech giant has mislead USA's most
important institution into thinking that the Samsung-branded devices it
had bought had been manufactured in a country, with which the USA has
signed a fair-trade agreement.
All US federal agencies and institutions are obliged by law to purchase and use only products that have been manufactured in either the USA or a country that is part of a trade agreement. Such countries, for example, are Mexico and South Korea, where
Samsung has some large manufacturing facilities, but it
appears that the devices it sold the government have been made in China.
The problem is that the USA and China have not signed such an
agreement. All US federal agencies and institutions are obliged by law to purchase and use only products that have been manufactured in either the USA or a country that is part of a trade agreement. Such countries, for example, are Mexico and South Korea, where
Samsung's US branch allegedly provided certain federal agencies with misleading information. Interestingly enough, Samsung itself is not accused of this act, and only the company's US-based department will be accountable for this chicanery.
“This
settlement upholds important trade priorities by ensuring that the
United States only uses its buying power to purchase from countries that
trade fairly with us,” revealed Stuart F. Delery, an Assistant Attorney General with the Justice Department’s Civil Division.
In order to settle down the charges, Samsung's US branch will have to part with some $2.3 million. This ruse wouldn't have been exposed if it wasn't for Robbert Simmons, a former Samsung employee and currently a whistle-blower, who revealed the scheme. Simmons will receive an yet-undefined portion of this sum of money.
source: Washington Post via Android Authority
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