By Gayle Littleton, David Bitkower, Coral Negron and Molly Davis ( May 30, 2018, 1:31 PM EDT) -- On April 30, 2018, multinational electronics company Panasonic Corp. and its U.S. subsidiary, Panasonic Avionics Corp., or PAC, agreed to pay the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over $280 million in penalties, disgorgement and prejudgment interest to resolve Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and accounting fraud violation allegations, making this the largest FCPA settlement so far this year. Specifically, PAC entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the DOJ to resolve violations of the FCPA's books and records provisions; separately, Panasonic agreed to an SEC cease-and-desist order finding violations of the FCPA's anti-bribery, books and records, and internal controls provisions, as well as securities reporting requirements. The violations arose out of schemes by PAC to retain consultants for improper purposes, conceal payments to sales agents, and improperly recognize revenue....