Daimler has escaped criminal charges in a US investigation into the firm’s bribery practices.

The company has admitted to making hundreds of improper payments worth tens of millions of dollars to foreign government officials in at least 22 countries between 1998 and 2008.

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The bribes included cash and gifts to help secure government contracts worth millions of dollars in countries including China, Russia and Iraq.

Department of Justice prosecutors are recommending a USD93.6m dollar fine (on top of a similar sized fine imposed by the SEC) for the company – which has pleaded guilty, fully cooperated with the investigation and apparently mended its ways.

“The Department (of Justice) considers Daimler’s cooperation in this investigation to have been excellent,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo.

“Specifically, Daimler conducted a worldwide internal investigation, involving dozens of countries and every major market in which the company does business.”

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Daimler has regularly presented its findings to prosecutors, fired 45 employees implicated in the bribery and reformed its practices, prosecutors wrote.

An external monitor will be appointed for three years to make sure Daimler abides by its strict anti-bribery code.

A court hearing is scheduled for April 1.

Questions over Daimler’s ethical practices date back to 2004 when a Detroit-based accountant at the company complained that he had been fired for raising questions over the dubious use of bank accounts. The whistleblower, David Bazzetta, later won a settlement for wrongful dismissal and his revelations sparked action by law enforcement authorities in the US.