Pa. filing details alleged Alcoa bribes
PITTSBURGH (AP) — A Middle Eastern aluminum firm says in newly filed federal court documents that companies affiliated with Alcoa Inc. paid $9.5 million in bribes plus millions more in commissions so the Bahrain-controlled firm would overpay $420 million for raw materials from 1997 to 2009.
The federal court complaint filed late Monday in Pittsburgh details allegations previously described only generally in the ongoing lawsuit filed in 2008 by Aluminum Bahrain BSC, a company also known as Alba.
Alcoa denies wrongdoing and says the allegations are a vague "series of guesses and overdrawn inferences."
The lawsuit had been on hold because the Justice Department intervened while it continues a criminal investigation centering on Alcoa affiliates controlled by billionaire businessman Victor Dahdaleh. He was arrested last month by British authorities on related charges.
