On Thursday, the U. S. Department of Justice accused Boston Scientific Corp.'s Guidant subsidiary with criminal violations in connection with allegedly failing to report safety problems with some of its defibrillators.

The department said that a formal guilty request is anticipated at a later date.

Last November, Boston Scientific declared that it would pay $296 million in an agreement with the Justice Department to resolve the Guidant case.

The Justice Department claimed that Guidant hid information from the U. S. Food and Drug Administration regarding disastrous failures in some of its defibrillators.

According to Prosecutors, three models of Guidant's implantable defibrillators that were used to detect and treat abnormal heart rhythms, had short-circuiting problems.

The department said that the company had discovered problems with one of the products in 2002 and with two others in 2004.

In June 2005, Guidant had issued a public warning about the devices.

Malfunctions in the products led to multiple deaths and became a big problem for Guidant making room for Boston Scientific to acquire the company for $26 billion in 2006.

Boston Scientific has worked progressively to repair the business while clearing away legal issues.

The company said in a written statement that it was pleased to resolve the matter.