Wal-Mart: Probe continues in Mexico bribery case

MEXICO CITY Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) says it continues an internal investigation into allegations that its Mexico subsidiary paid bribes to get stores built and will cooperate with any investigations by authorities.

The company is responding to a new report by The New York Times saying 19 store sites across Mexico were the target of Wal-Mart bribes. Among them is a store near Teotihuacan, the site of the famous pyramids outside Mexico City.

The Times says that Wal-Mart de Mexico paid more than $200,000 to circumvent zoning and other laws preserving archaeological sites to get the store built in 2004.

A Wal-Mart statement Tuesday says the Teotihuacan store is part of the company investigation that began about a year ago.

The Times first reported on allegations of Wal-Mart bribery last April.