Lucent gets subpoenas from US regulators

Lucent Technologies has received subpoenas from U.S. federal agencies in relation to two separate investigations, the company disclosed Friday in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

One of the subpoenas involved a Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation into the federal E-Rate program for connecting schools and libraries to the Internet. The DOJ is investigating possible antitrust and other violations by participants in the program, Lucent said in a Form 10-Q filed on Friday. The subpoena asked the Murray Hill, New Jersey, company to provide documents to a grand jury of a federal court in Georgia.

In 2004, several companies pleaded guilty to defrauding the E-Rate program, in which schools with needy students can apply for funds to cover cabling, equipment and monthly fees for Internet connections. The program is supported by telecommunications user fees.

The other subpoena was from the Office of the Inspector General of the General Services Administration, Lucent said in the document. It involves a probe into sales of telecommunications equipment and maintenance services to the federal government.

Both subpoenas were received in the three-month period ending June 30, the term covered by the Form 10-Q. Lucent said it was too early to tell if the probes would have a material effect on its business.

Also in the Form 10-Q, Lucent gave an update on a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigation involving possible bribery in China and Saudi Arabia. In May, the SEC Enforcement Staff told representatives of three former Lucent executives, including a former chairman and chief executive officer, that it would not recommend enforcement actions against them. An investigation is still continuing, the company said. Under the FCPA, executives can go to jail and U.S. companies can be fined and barred from government procurement contracts if they are found to have bribed a foreign government official. Last year, Lucent fired executives of its China operations for violations of the FCPA.