J&J exec bribed Greek orthopods - he didn't have a leg to stand on!

A former executive at Johnson & Johnson’s U.K. unit, DePuy International, pleaded guilty to taking part in paying 4.5 million pounds ($7 million) of bribes to Greek doctors. He was sentenced to 12 months in jail.

Robert John Dougall, 44, the former director of marketing at Leeds, England-based DePuy, admitted in a London court today to paying commissions in advance on sales made by Medec SA, a Greek distributor of the health care company’s orthopedic products. Some of the money was used to make “incentive payments” in an effort to persuade Greek surgeons to use DePuy’s products, the U.K. Serious Fraud Office said in a statement.

The incentives “were no more than euphemisms to make corrupt payments,” the SFO said. The money for the payments was sent to an Isle of Man-registered company called Madison Management Ltd., owned by the parent of Medec.

The case is the first of part of a “major SFO corruption investigation,” the agency said. “The investigation into the roles and involvement of others is ongoing.”

Dougall’s lawyer, Shaul Brazil, declined to comment. Representatives for New Brunswick, New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson weren’t immediately available to comment.

Dougall, who cooperated with the probe, didn’t seek or gain any personal benefit from the payments, the SFO said. He was charged in December with conspiracy to corrupt.

“It is satisfying when corruption has been admitted, the offender co-operated and has been dealt with swiftly,” SFO Director Richard Alderman said in the statement.

To contact the reporter for this story: Lindsay Fortado in London at lfortado@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 14, 2010 12:08 EDT

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