yes — BASF has been involved in several scandals and investigations over the years that are often described as corruption, fraud, or wrongdoing. Here are some of the main cases:

Documented issues and investigations

• Fraudulent invoicing / internal fraud (2018): In 2018, German prosecutors opened an investigation into multiple employees of BASF and external firms, accused of issuing false invoices for work “never carried out,” at BASF’s central site in Ludwigshafen. The suspected damage ran into the “millions of euros.” ICIS Explore+2Xinhua Net+2
  • According to reports, four BASF employees and several external firms were involved. Deutsche Welle+2DW News+2
  • One of the BASF employees under suspicion died (allegedly suicide), according to media citing the prosecutors. Deutsche Welle+2ICIS Explore+2
  • BASF itself flagged the issue during internal compliance audits and reported it to authorities. ICIS Explore+1
  • The investigation included potential bribery or corruption charges because of the false invoicing. Xinhua Net+1
• Earlier misconduct cases (2009–2010): The internal fraud was not the first time — previous incidents included fraudulent billing by employees and external contractors (e.g. for scaffolding or line construction) and theft (e.g. large-scale removal of pallets). These led to fines, dismissals, and penal proceedings. PROCESS Worldwide+2basf.com+2
  • In one example, scaffolding and line construction works were wrongly billed, costing around €1.5 million. PROCESS Worldwide+1
  • Also, theft of pallets over several years resulted in losses of approx. €2 million. PROCESS Worldwide+1
• Legal settlement over asbestos/talc-related fraud: Through its acquisition of a company (then called Engelhard Corp.) and its talc mine, BASF (later via its unit) was involved in a legal dispute over talc products — accused of hiding that certain talc contained asbestos. That lawsuit ended in a settlement: BASF and a law firm agreed to pay US$72.5 million. Bloomberg+2Claims Journal+2
  • Some describe that case as involving “systematic fraud” and “evidence hiding” rather than an isolated mistake. Insurance Journal+1
• Intellectual property theft / trade-secret leak by ex-employees (2019): In Taiwan, several former employees of BASF were arrested and charged with illegally selling BASF’s proprietary chemical-production technology to a Chinese firm in exchange for bribes. Taipei Times+2Taipei Times+2
  • According to prosecutors, the illicit leak concerned processes to produce high-purity chemicals used in the electronics industry — with estimated losses for BASF in the tens of millions of US dollars. Taipei Times+2sulphuric-acid.com+2
  • While these cases involved individuals, the fact that senior staff and engineers were implicated reflects serious internal vulnerabilities. Taipei Times+2IndustryWeek+2

What BASF says and how it responds

• BASF claims to have a global “Compliance Program” and a Code of Conduct that forbid bribery and corruption, and they emphasise that they prefer to “lose a business opportunity than win by means of corruption.” basf.com+2basf.com+2
• They also highlight that they have a Chief Compliance Officer and an extensive network of compliance officers worldwide. hrbdf.org+1
• In the face of the internal-fraud scandal, BASF reportedly suspended the involved employees and said it would tighten internal controls and compliance procedures. ICIS Explore+1

Interpretation — “BASF involved” ≠ “BASF as a whole corrupt”

It’s important to distinguish:

• Most of these scandals concern certain employees or former employees, or subsidiaries/units — not necessarily the entire corporation’s management or board.
• The company has repeatedly emphasized compliance and internal controls; it also self-reported the fraud case to prosecutors in 2018. ICIS Explore+2ICIS Explore+2
• In some cases (like the talc/asbestos lawsuits), the legal settlement was reached without admission of liability. Claims Journal+1

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Verdict: yes — BASF has been involved in corruption / fraud investigations and scandals.

But these incidents mostly involve subsets of personnel or legacy units, not always systemic wrongdoing by the entire corporation.

here’s a chronological list of major scandals, investigations and legal actions involving BASF (1990s → 2025) with short descriptions and sources so you can dive deeper. I focused on high-impact, well-documented cases (antitrust, fraud/corruption, IP theft, large product/health suits, environmental/regulatory fines and major settlements).

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Major BASF scandals & allegations (1990s → 2025)

1) Vitamin price-fixing cartel (late 1980s → 1999) — criminal fines

• What: BASF was one of the companies implicated in a multi-company global cartel to fix prices and allocate markets for certain vitamins.
• Outcome/impact: In the U.S. DOJ case BASF pleaded guilty and paid a $225 million criminal fine (1999). The EU also imposed large fines (hundreds of millions of euros) for related vitamin cartels. Department of Justice+1

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2) Scaffold/piping kickback / bribery probes (2009–2010)

• What: Prosecutors investigated suspected kickbacks and fraudulent invoicing involving suppliers and several BASF staff (Ludwigshafen area).
• Outcome/impact: Criminal investigations, internal probes and personnel actions; reported losses in the low millions of euros. Reuters+1

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3) Fraudulent invoicing / internal fraud (2018 — Ludwigshafen)

• What: BASF uncovered alleged fraudulent invoicing (invoices for work not done) involving a number of employees and external contractors at its central Ludwigshafen site. Prosecutors searched homes and workplaces.
• Outcome/impact: Investigations by German prosecutors; company said it had reported the case and tightened controls. Reported damage described as “millions” EUR. ICIS Explore+1

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4) IP / trade-secret theft by (former) employees (Taiwan / Asia, 2018–2019)

• What: Authorities in Taiwan (and reporting elsewhere) investigated arrests/charges of former BASF staff accused of selling BASF proprietary chemical production know-how (electronic-grade chemical tech) to a Chinese firm.
• Outcome/impact: Arrests and criminal/administrative action; described as significant loss of proprietary technology. ACS Publications+1

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5) Talc / asbestos-related litigation settlement (Engelhard/Emtal talc — settled 2020)

• What: Claims alleged evidence hiding and that certain talc (from a unit acquired by BASF via Engelhard) contained asbestos and was misrepresented.
• Outcome/impact: BASF and a law firm agreed to a $72.5 million settlement (2020) to resolve claims related to alleged improper handling of talc/asbestos evidence. Insurance Journal+1

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6) Dicamba / crop-damage litigation (Bader Farms verdict — 2020; subsequent reductions/settlements)

• What: In litigation tied to dicamba herbicide drift (products tied to Monsanto/Bayer and BASF), a Missouri jury awarded Bader Farms $15M in compensatory and $250M in punitive damages (Feb 2020) against Bayer and BASF for orchard damage.
• Outcome/impact: Punitive award was later reduced by judges (punitive portion later cut to $60M) and many dicamba cases were the subject of further settlements and appeals; Bayer later announced a broad dicamba settlement program. Civil Eats+1

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7) Environmental / regulatory enforcement and fines (U.S. plants, 2010s–2020s)

• What: U.S. regulatory coverage has documented multiple violations, reporting failures and fines (e.g., air-permit/air-emission violations, accidental discharges at plants such as Geismar, LA / Texas facilities).
• Outcome/impact: Multiple enforcement actions and fines (typically modest relative to company size), but attention from investigative outlets about frequency and environmental impacts. ProPublica+1

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8) More recent antitrust/class actions / settlements (e.g., metals pricing litigation — 2024)

• What: BASF has appeared as a defendant in several commodity/antitrust class actions; for example, in 2024 BASF (with banks) agreed to a proposed settlement tied to alleged manipulation of platinum/palladium price fixings.
• Outcome/impact: Recent settlement filings (small monetary settlements in context) and continued litigation exposure in commodity and other antitrust matters. Reuters

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Short interpretation / context

• Pattern: The incidents span categories: large antitrust cartel (vitamins) in the 1990s; fraud/bribery probes and internal invoicing scams in the 2000s–2010s; IP theft by individuals in Asia; product-liability / mass tort litigation (talc, dicamba); and environmental/regulatory enforcement.
• Most cases involve: either company business units / acquired assets or individual employees/contractors, rather than frequent public findings of corporate-wide systemic corruption — though the vitamin cartel was a corporate-level criminal plea. BASF has also consistently pointed to its global compliance program and reported internal controls when problems were found. Department of Justice+1