DoJ investigating whether Uber violated US foreign bribery laws: DJ, citing sources

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Uber CEO Travis Kalanick speaks at a ceremony at the Baidu headquarters in Beijing on December 17, 2014. Baidu, China’s leading search engine, and ride sharing company Uber announced a strategic investment and cooperation agreement on December 17.

The Justice Department is in the early stages of examining Uber’s business for alleged violations of U.S. foreign bribery laws, unnamed sources told The Wall Street Journal in a report published on Tuesday.

Uber confirmed to CNBC it is cooperating with the Justice Department on a preliminary probe, but did not specify the nature of the potential case. The Journal’s sources said it’s unclear which countries, or how many countries, are being examined by regulators.

According to the Journal, the Justice Department may or may not decide to open a full investigation into the ride-hailing company. CNBC’s request for comment from the Justice Department was not immediately returned.

A probe would be the latest headache for the rapidly expanding global business, which has restructured branches in major markets like China and Russia amid turmoil and executive turnover within its California headquarters.

For more on the story, see the report at WSJ.com.