Oracle is paying $46m to the Department of Justice to end an investigation into allegations that Sun Microsystems, now owned by Oracle, bribed resellers.

The claim was that Sun paid dealers to recommend Sun hardware and software, in breach of the Anti-Kickback Act.

The company was accused of misleading the General Services Administration in 1997 and 1999 by providing the agency with dodgy pricing information which was later used to draw up a contract with the US Postal Service.

Tony West, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice, said: “Kickbacks, illegal inducements, misrepresentations during contract negotiations – these undermine the integrity of the government procurement process and unnecessarily cost taxpayers money."

He said this case showed the determination of the DoJ to pursue "those who abuse the public contracting process".

The bribery claims were first made by whistleblowers in 2004, and were then picked up by the DoJ.

The settlement has seen US authorities make agreements with six technology companies.

The full explanation of the DoJ agreement with Oracle is here. ®