LONDON, April 4 (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline, facingallegations of bribery in China, has dismissed some employees inthe country over failure to comply with expenses rules, a personfamiliar with the situation said on Friday.
Britain's biggest drugmaker declined to detail the move butconfirmed it had stepped up monitoring of expenses claims,resulting in action being taken against some employees.
The closer staff surveillance in China follows accusationsby Chinese authorities in July that GSK funnelled up to 3billion yuan ($483 million) in expenses to doctors and officialsto encourage them to use its medicines.
"We routinely monitor and check expenses claims to ensurethey adhere to our policies. Since the start of theinvestigation by the authorities, we have increased thismonitoring in China," a company spokesman said.
"Where we have found potential issues, we are thoroughlyreviewing them and have withheld incentive payments whereappropriate."
The company declined to specify the number of staffinvolved in the crackdown but the source familiar with thematter said it was a very small proportion of the company'stotal workforce in the country of around 7,000.
GSK has previously said some of its senior Chineseexecutives appeared to have broken the law. It has also said ithas zero tolerance for bribery, calling the allegations in China"shameful".
The corruption claims have taken a toll on GSK's business inChina which, through small, had been growing fast.
Before the scandal, GSK's China sales had risen 14 percentyear-on-year in the three months to end-June, but revenue in thecountry plunged 61 percent in the third quarter and 29 percentin the final quarter of 2013.
($1 = 6.2107 Chinese Yuan) (Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by David Holmes)
Glaxosmithkline (GSK)
