The basic story seems to be that during its growth phase in Mexico, Wal-‎Mart hired local “specialists” who understood what needed to be paid to ‎whom to expedite (or allow) permits to issued, zoning to changed, and ‎authorizations to proceed. This was part of a strategy to grab the best ‎locations fast, so competitors would be left catching up later.

The effort has been documented in an internal investigation, and seems to ‎have been reviewed at Wal-Mart in the US.  And then “referred” back to ‎internal Mexican personnel, who promptly closed the file.

Problem is Wal-Mart may have violated the US Foreign Corrupt Practices ‎Act (FCPA) and that act has teeth. It is US legislation designed to prevent ‎US companies, wherever they operate, from bribing foreign officials.

Wal-Mart’s shares have taken a hit, its reputation has taken a hit, and it is ‎now cooperating with authorities in their investigation.

Certainly it seems that the payments in Mexico may have violated US law ‎‎(that was the conclusion of Wal-Mart’s lead internal investigator). Whether ‎the actions also constitute a cover-up remains to be seen.   In many cases, ‎the cover-up turns out to be worse than the original crime (often giving rise ‎to “obstruction” related charges.)‎