(3 of 3)
Then the SEC filed a civil complaint against Heltzer, Hansen and Cross for falsifying company records; the men settled by signing a consent decree. A fed eral grand jury indicted 3M, Hansen and Cross on charges of tax fraud. That case is still pending. Unpaid taxes on the illegal contributions could cost 3M as much as $9 million.
Family Spirit. The company has managed to surmount the bad publicity and burden of the lawsuits. "We have been wounded, but it is not fatal," insists Vice President John Verstraete.
3M, a cozy and inbred company, has not lost its prized family spirit, which some critics say led executives to place loyalty to the company above respect for the law in the campaign-fund scandals. Five men — Heltzer, Cross, Hansen, Bennett and former Chairman William McKnight — have agreed to pay the company $475,000 to settle the Bonderman suit. McKnight offered to contribute $300,000 of his own funds, even though he was not implicated. "These other men don't have the kind of money I do," explained McKnight, now 87, whose 3M holdings are worth about $200 million.