Adidas is investigating claims of large-scale bribery in China after it received a whistleblower complaint that accused senior staff of embezzling “millions of euros”.
The anonymous letter, which claims to have been written by “employees of Adidas China”, names several members of staff including a senior manager involved with the marketing budget for the country, which is said to stand at €250m a year, The Financial Times reported.
The letter alleged that the German sporting giant’s employees received kickbacks from external service providers who were commissioned by Adidas.
A second senior Adidas manager, who works in a different division for the China business, is accused of receiving “millions in cash from suppliers, and physical items such as real estate”.
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Adidas insiders told the publication that while the anonymous authors of the letter did not provide hard evidence for their corruption allegations, they appear to be well-informed about highly sensitive and confidential internal issues.
The sporting group confirmed it had received a letter on 7 June alerting it to “potential compliance violations in China” and that it was “committed to complying with legal and internal regulations and ethical standards in all markets where we operate”.
It confirmed that it was “intensively investigating this matter together with external legal counsel”.
According to The FT, no accused individuals have been placed on leave.
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