'Criminal godfather' Glaxo spent £320m on bribes, China claims

Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline spent over £320m bribing Chinese doctors to prescribe its products, according to the country's police.

The firm behaved like a "criminal godfather" by channelling payments through 700 intermediaries, and was also involved in "sexual bribery" in exchange for business, a six-month investigation alleged. "It is like a criminal organisation, there is always a boss. In this game, GSK is the godfather," Gao Feng, head of the Chinese anti-fraud unit, is reported to have said. Other foreign firms could also be implicated, he added. The allegations, which date back to 2007, were branded "serious" by the drug maker. Some of the intermediaries listed themselves as travel agents, and alleged...