Having weathered a brutal and unsuccessful struggle to stop a permit for the largest Walmart superstore in the State of Vermont, those of us who are members of the Northwest Citizens for Responsible Growth received this week’s news of Walmart’s Mexican permit scandal with little surprise.  

That this scandal is affecting the company’s stock value and putting pressure on Congress to investigate its implications under US law makes us cautiously optimistic that the troubled company, already suffering from lagging U.S.sales, may never occupy the St. Albans site.

There is speculation that some of Walmart’s U.S. executives may face criminal charges over the Mexican bribery and cover-up incidents:

“The allegations that Wal-Mart officials in Mexico may have broken U.S. laws by bribing officials to get their stores built faster raise serious concerns,” Rep. Cummings said in a statement to TPM. “But I am even more alarmed by reports that top company executives in the U.S. tried to cover-up these abuses. We need to ensure that US corporations comply fully with the law, and we need to determine the full scope of these alleged abuses.”

Under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act it is

“…unlawful to bribe foreign government officials to obtain or retain business.”

The intimacy of Walmart’s Mexican operation with its U.S. parent is illustrated by the fact that the newest CEO of the company, Mike Duke, who replaced Lee Scott in 2008, is the former vice-chair of the International Division which was responsible for the rapid expansion of Walmart in Mexico.

In that capacity, Mr. Duke apparently first learned of the bribery allegations in 2005, keeping the secret long after he accepted his current position at the helm of the mothership.

It takes no leap of imagination to guess that corporate practices in Mexico could be a reflection of practices closer to home.  Walmart has long had the reputation of being an “end justifies the means” kind of operation, engaging in questionable business ethics and even some bullying.

Construction permits are complex ballets of engagement, involving developers, local officials, concerned citizens and the retailer itself.  They play out in many acts and largely unnoticed by the greater population.  All kinds of negotiations take place and it would be naive to believe that money never changes hands .

Somehow the corporate giant has always managed to escape unscathed from most legal entanglements, either because the issue involved was too large in scale, (ie.discrimination against female employees); or, because its penny-pinching practices, widely believed to translate into bargain prices for consumers, make it politically inconvenient for lawmakers to challenge those practices or even to look too closely at the underlying legalities.

It seems the corporate behemoth’s luck may be changing.

Eight months and counting since the Supremes gave their go-ahead; and there is still no sign at the site of the “St. Albans Walmart.”