[rubymancer]

> Ultimately, Ellison said, Alameda transferred $100 million in payments to what she understood to be Chinese government officials to unfreeze the account, which could constitute a bribe.

Heeeey, $100 million could constitute a bribe. That's more than I make in a year!

[krisoft]

I think you are misunderstanding the sentence. It is not the amount of money which makes it a bribe vs not a bribe.

It is not like $100 million “could” be a bribe while $200 would have definietly been a bribe and two cents would not have been a bribe. What the sentence says is that the specific act, depending on circumstances can be construed a bribe.

One possible defense under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is if the payment was made for a lawfull purpose of the local country. For example if it was payment of some legitimate fine or tax that would make it not a bribe.

The same law also has exceptions for “facilitating or expediting payments" made in furtherance of routine governmental action. Altough it is unlikely that this specific instance would count as one.

[jacquesm]

Typically bribes are to individuals and fines are to government institutions.