Feds open Alcoa bribery probe

Federal prosecutors have launched an investigation into allegations that Alcoa Inc. and affiliates bribed officials in the Persian Gulf country of Bahrain to secure hundreds of millions of dollars in overpayments.

The U.S. Justice Department asked a judge to halt a federal civil lawsuit against the Pittsburgh-based company that accused Alcoa of bribing the officials through secretive shell companies in Asia and Europe.

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Alcoa conducted a review, he said, but found no evidence of wrongdoing and planned to vigorously defend itself.

The Bahrain government was seeking more than $1 billion in damages in the lawsuit blocked by the DOJ.