St. Jude Medical said Thursday U.S. regulators are probing the heart device maker for allegedly giving kickbacks to the Iraqi government in exchange for sales of its products.

The company said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last month subpoenaed documents about transactions connected to the United Nations’ Oil-for-Food program, which has been criticized for widespread corruptions and abuse.

From 1996 to 2003, the program allowed Iraq to sell a limited amount of oil and use the proceeds to purchase humanitarian goods while the country was under economic sanctions.

The company said in a regulatory filing it was being investigated for “allegedly having made payments to the Iraqi government in connection with certain product sales we made to Iraq under this program.”

Iraq

St. Jude said in a statement it was cooperating with the SEC’s request and investigating the allegations. Its stock, which hit a 52-week high of $54.75 on January 9, fell $0.29 to $44.54. The stock has lost more than $2 per share this week.

stock, which hit a 52-week high of $54.75 on January 9, fell $0.29 to $44.54. The stock has lost more than $2 per share this week.

After questions about the Oil-For-Food program arose, the U.N. launched a probe. In October, a U.N.-appointed committee implicated St. Jude and more than 2,200 other businesses.

2,200 other businesses.

The report by the Independent Inquiry Committee said the companies, or their subsidiaries, paid kickbacks to the Iraqi government during Saddam Hussein’s reign (see Tech Firms in Oil Scandal). However, the report said the companies didn’t necessarily authorize or know of the payments.

The committee said most of the companies named had contracts to provide Iraq with humanitarian goods. Iraq’s largest source of illicit income from the program came from kickbacks by companies selected to receive the contracts. Iraq secured more than $1.5 billion through these payments, the report said.

According to the committee, St. Jude delivered $7.6 million worth of heat valves, medical appliances, and equipment to Iraq through its Austrian subsidiary St. Jude Medical Export GMBH. The export company paid the Iraqi government $642,983, the report said.

St. Jude delivered $7.6 million worth of heat valves, medical appliances, and equipment to Iraq through its Austrian subsidiary St. Jude Medical Export GMBH. The export company paid the Iraqi government $642,983, the report said.

St. Jude said Thursday the U.S. government is questioning possible “improprieties” in the company’s international operations, which include allegedly having made payments to the Iraqi government from 2002 to 2003 in connection with product sales.

U.S.