HP is in hot water in Germany and Russia

THE MAKER of expensive printer ink, HP has been roped into a bribery scandal in Putin's Russia.

Inspector Knacker of the Moscow Yard has swept into the offices of HP and snuffled around looking for evidence.

When members of the local press asked coppers what they were doing, they didn't say. This is normally enough for Russian hacks, if they want to keep working, or breathing.

However the raid follows a similar one in Germany where the authorities were a little more forthcoming with information.

It turns out there had been allegations that someone at HP had backhanded a large wedge of cash to secure a Russian government contract.

The alleged bag man used to hang out in Germany but was known to visit Russia from time to time, and apparently was astonishingly good at getting HP contracts.

HP has said it is assisting the Inspectors with their inquiries, and that it is holding an internal inquiry of its own into the matter.

HP has also been assuring the world plus dog that all this happened a long time ago, seven years, to be precise. That was before it was caught conducting surveillance of journalists and its own board members and then finally decided to become a respectable business again. µ