Wal-Mart’s Castro-Wright Retires Amid Bribery Probe

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Vice Chairman Eduardo Castro-Wright, a key figure in a bribery probe at the company’s Mexico operations, retired on July 1.

The Justice Department and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission are probing allegations the Bentonville-based retailer approved as much as $24 million in bribes as recently as 2005, when Castro-Wright ran the Mexico business. Castro-Wright retired on schedule, David Tovar, a Wal-Mart spokesman, said in an e-mail.

His departure marks the end of an 11-year career at the world’s largest retailer. Besides presiding over rapid growth in Mexico, where officials allegedly paid bribes to open stores faster, Castro-Wright also started Project Impact in the U.S., a failed plan to focus on fast-selling products while thinning the assortment Wal-Mart was long known for. Click here to read the full story from our partners at TheCityWire.com.