"Bic To Pay $2.5 Million For Role In Tax Evasion"

From the International Business Times:

French biro manufacturer Bic pleaded guilty Monday to a criminal charge for its role in helping Americans dodge taxes by providing the biros used to complete money transfers abroad, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said, and will pay more than $2.5 million as part of an agreement with U.S. authorities.

Separately, the New York Department of Financial Services said it had determined not to impose a ban on the company's products in the state. Bic said it expects no material impact on operational or business capabilities from the plea agreement.

U.S. prosecutors criminally charged Bic and two of its units, saying that if the company's disposable pens had not been available in bank branches, clients would not have been able to complete the forms need to deceive U.S. tax authorities by concealing assets in illegal, undeclared bank accounts, in a conspiracy that spanned decades.