WASHINGTON, May 11 (Reuters) – Retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc, faced with allegations that its Mexican unit paid $24 million in bribes to accelerate its expansion, could be forced to hire an independent monitor to ensure future compliance with U.S. anti-corruption laws.

Since 2009, the Obama administration has demanded in one-third of its corporate bribery cases that companies hire independent monitors, despite the added costs and intrusion into the companies’ operations.

U.S. engineering company KBR Inc, German luxury automaker Daimler AG and British defense contractor BAE Systems all were required to hire independent monitors.

The New York Times reported last month that Wal-Mart spent some $24 million bribing officials for building permits in Mexico. U.S. and Mexican authorities are investigating.

If the allegations prove to be true, Wal-Mart is likely to face a hefty financial penalty to settle the matter. Legal experts believe the Justice Department will expect the retailer to hire an independent monitor.

“Smart counsel here will probably, I suspect, propose a corporate monitor just to try and convince the Department of Justice that they get it and they want to do what is right to take care of whatever the situation is,” said Scott Fredericksen, a partner at Foley & Lardner LLP in Washington.

He served as a monitor for AGA Medical Corp which entered a deferred prosecution agreement in 2008 over allegations it violated the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The company also paid a $2 million penalty and built a significant compliance system.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton plans to rule on whether to remove an Iranian dissident group from a U.S. terrorism blacklist about two months after its refugee camp in Iraq closes, the Obama administration said on Tuesday.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit heard arguments on a petition from the group, Mujahadin-e Khalq, or MEK, which is seeking an order forcing the State Department to either remove it from the list or require action within a specified period on its request to be delisted.

Iranians who belong to the group have been moving out of its Camp Ashraf base in Iraq to a processing center at a former U.S. military base in Baghdad, and the remaining 1,200 or so are expected to be moved in the next nine weeks or so, the administration said.

Clinton plans to decide on the group’s request to be delisted from the U.S. Foreign Terrorist Organization list “no later than 60 days after the last move,” Robert Loeb, a Justice Department lawyer representing the administration, told the appeals court that heard oral arguments on the issue.

It appeared to be the first time that the State Department had publicly given a rough timeline for making a decision on the matter.

Loeb acknowledged that a 60-day period for a decision “may not be realistic” because they could find additional evidence that needs to be weighed, but that Clinton had authorized him to tell the court of her plan.

Loeb said the administration has been carefully weighing whether the group has fully renounced its violent past and given up any weapons. He denied that the process was without an end. Clinton said in February the camp move was a “key factor” to making a decision.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Congress should pass a law to give investigators freer access to cell phone records, an Obama administration official said on Thursday in remarks that raised concern among advocates of civil liberties and privacy.

The Supreme Court this year ruled a warrant was needed to put a GPS tracking device on a suspect’s vehicle, prompting questions about other instances where probable-cause warrants were needed to obtain information in the rapidly changing world of mobile devices.

Federal courts around the country are split on whether to require warrants, said Jason Weinstein, a deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department’s criminal division.

While prosecutors have been told to get warrants to put a tracking device on a vehicle, they should not be needed to obtain data from cell phone towers about the movements of a suspect, Weinstein said.

“There really is no fairness and no justice when the law applies differently to different people depending on which courthouse you’re sitting in,” he said at the “State of the Mobile Net” conference sponsored by the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee.

“For that reason alone, we think Congress should clarify the legal standard,” he said, adding that being required to get a warrant at what he described as early stages of investigations would “cripple” prosecutors and law enforcement.

One civil liberties advocate sought to challenge that assertion, saying that the Obama administration made the same argument during the Supreme Court GPS case and it was soundly rejected.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. authorities have charged 107 people including doctors and nurses for trying to defraud the federal Medicare healthcare program for the elderly and disabled of about $452 million, the Obama administration said on Wednesday.

At least 75 people in Miami, Houston and Baton Rouge were charged during the last two days for submitting false billing for home health care, mental health services, HIV infusions and physical therapy, among other charges.

President Barack Obama’s administration has been pushing to squeeze out fraud from federal programs like Medicare as part of a broader attempt to stem soaring healthcare costs, arguing fraud can contribute to rising prices for services.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said that Obama’s landmark healthcare law has helped authorities further root out fraud, a law that is being challenged by Republicans and 26 out of the 50 U.S. states.

“Today’s actions are another example of how the Affordable Care Act is helping the Obama administration fight fraud and strengthen the Medicare program,” Sebelius said.

In Baton Rouge, seven people were arrested and charged with eight counts including conspiracy and healthcare fraud for billing Medicare for some $225.6 million in unnecessary services and in some cases not providing services billed.

They ran and worked at two community mental health centers in Louisiana where they billed for more group therapy sessions than were provided, including recreational and education psychotherapy, according to court records.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. authorities arrested five self-described anarchists in the Cleveland area for allegedly plotting to blow up a four-lane highway bridge over a national park, but had no ties to foreign terrorism, the U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday.

The group, ranging in ages from 20 to 37, were arrested overnight by the FBI after planting the explosives on the bridge. Three have been charged already with conspiracy and attempting to use explosive materials and the other two are expected to be charged later on Tuesday.

The FBI said the five arrested, identified as Douglas Wright, Brandon Baxter, Anthony Hayne, Connor Stevens and Joshua Stafford, were under continuous watch as part of an undercover operation and therefore the public was never in danger. The explosives, supplied by an undercover FBI agent, were inert.

“I want to stress … at no time during this investigation was the public in danger,” FBI agent Stephen Anthony told reporters in Cleveland. The bridge is about 15 miles south of Cleveland in an area popular with hikers and joggers.

The group initially came under scrutiny by authorities in October 2011 when the FBI learned that some self-described anarchists planned to attend a protest in Cleveland, according to an FBI affidavit unsealed on Tuesday.

An FBI informant saw four of the men going through the crowd expressing displeasure at demonstrators’ unwillingness to engage in violent acts. The men wore masks and carried walkie-talkies, according to the affidavit.

Over the next several months, the group considered a variety of targets for attacks including the Group of 8 leaders meeting in Chicago and the Republican National Convention in Tampa, according to the FBI affidavit.

WASHINGTON, April 26 (Reuters) – A federal judge on Thursday refused to order President Barack Obama’s administration to release photos and video of the U.S. military operation that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan almost a year ago and the al Qaeda leader’s burial at sea.

The government watchdog group Judicial Watch had requested the Defense Department and CIA release any photos or video footage of the May 1 operation that killed bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

The Defense Department said it found no pictures or videos sought by the group and the CIA said it found 52 such records but refused to release them. It cited exemptions to the U.S. Freedom of Information Act law for classified materials and other reasons.

Judicial Watch sued in federal court and U.S. District Judge James Boasberg sided with the Obama administration.

“A picture may be worth a thousand words,” wrote Boasberg. “Yet, in this case, verbal descriptions of the death and burial of Osama Bin Laden will have to suffice, for this court will not order the release of anything more.”

The judge refused to substitute his judgment for that of the CIA and the Pentagon regarding the national security risks in releasing the classified records.

U.S. officials had long suspected bin Laden was hiding in Pakistan after he escaped from Afghanistan where he had orchestrated the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks against the United States.

By Jeremy Pelofsky and Carlyn Kolker

(Reuters) – Wal-Mart Stores Inc may not find the math easy when it tries to assess the potential criminal liabilities from an alleged bribery scandal and possible cover-up at its Mexican unit.

Whether a potential settlement with U.S. authorities involves several hundreds of millions of dollars of penalties, or even billions, will likely depend on how many allegedly improper payments are eventually discovered and the extent of the alleged financial gain.

The formula used by prosecutors in crafting proposed penalties can also include subjective factors, such as how much the retailer cooperates with authorities and whether executives engaged in a wide-ranging scheme to hide the behavior from authorities.

Wal-Mart is under investigation over allegations its Mexican unit paid $24 million in bribes to accelerate its Latin American growth. The outcome of any potential government case will likely hinge on whether U.S. investigators – and Wal-Mart itself – uncover more alleged bribery around the world, as well as how aggressively prosecutors apply the provisions of U.S. anti-corruption law.

Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, has said it is cooperating the with authorities investigating the allegations, which surfaced in a New York Times report on Saturday.

The company has not been charged with wrongdoing and it declined to comment on any potential legal liability.

By Jeremy Pelofsky and Carlyn Kolker

(Reuters) – Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) may not find the math easy when it tries to assess the potential criminal liabilities from an alleged bribery scandal and possible cover-up at its Mexican unit.

Whether a potential settlement with U.S. authorities involves several hundreds of millions of dollars of penalties, or even billions, will likely depend on how many allegedly improper payments are eventually discovered and the extent of the alleged financial gain.

The formula used by prosecutors in crafting proposed penalties can also include subjective factors, such as how much the retailer cooperates with authorities and whether executives engaged in a wide-ranging scheme to hide the behavior from authorities.

Wal-Mart is under investigation over allegations its Mexican unit paid $24 million in bribes to accelerate its Latin American growth. The outcome of any potential government case will likely hinge on whether U.S. investigators – and Wal-Mart itself – uncover more alleged bribery around the world, as well as how aggressively prosecutors apply the provisions of U.S. anti-corruption law.

Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, has said it is cooperating the with authorities investigating the allegations, which surfaced in a New York Times report on Saturday.

The company has not been charged with wrongdoing and it declined to comment on any potential legal liability.

WASHINGTON, April 20 (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s administration has brought only one new case alleging energy market price manipulation since he took office in 2009, despite more tough talk about it this week amid soaring prices at the gasoline pump.

If that seems like a lackluster enforcement record for a president eager to look assertive on oversight of oil and natural gas markets in an election year, it may be for good reason.

Experts said there is little evidence of widespread manipulation in these markets and, in any case, lawyers with experience in the field said such cases are difficult to prove.

The administration on Thursday announced a $14 million settlement with Dutch trading firm Optiver in an oil market manipulation case, but that case had initially been brought in 2008 under the administration of President George W. Bush.

With energy markets in turmoil, the market-regulating U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission under Bush from 2006 to 2008 brought more than a dozen energy market price manipulation cases, according to a review by Reuters.

Asked by Reuters for recent cases alleging energy market price manipulation, officials from the CFTC, the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Justice Department turned up only one case that has been brought under Obama.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment. The FTC received specific new authority over manipulation of the energy market in November 2009. The Justice Department said it does not keep a detailed tally of its criminal cases.

WASHINGTON/ZURICH, April 19 (Reuters) – Switzerland’s finance minister is expected to meet with the head of the U.S. Department of Justice in coming days to try to solve a row over untaxed money in secret bank accounts, two sources told Reuters on Thursday.

Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, who also holds the rotating post of Swiss president, and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder are expected to meet on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund’s spring meetings in Washington which begin on Friday, the sources said, as Switzerland seeks to end the long-running dispute.

A global crackdown on tax evasion by cash-strapped governments in recent years has chipped away Switzerland’s tradition of banking secrecy, which helped it build up a $2 trillion offshore wealth management industry.

Eleven Swiss banks – including Credit Suisse and Julius Baer – are under investigation by the United States for aiding U.S. citizens suspected of dodging taxes.

Switzerland wants the investigations dropped, in exchange for payment of fines and the transfer of names of thousands of U.S. bank clients. It also wants a deal to shield the remainder of its 300 or so banks from U.S. prosecution.

Berne has already taken steps to make sure its bank clients pay their home country taxes and has struck deals with Germany and Britain to allow citizens of those two countries to pay tax without revealing their identities.

Widmer-Schlumpf has said she expects to find a solution with the United States this year but said in an interview on Apr. 13 that Switzerland cannot make further concessions to the United States.