New Delhi, April 11 -- IBM has reached an agreement with the US government to pay $17 million to resolve a federal probe over the firm's diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices, the Department of Justice said on Friday.

The settlement comes as the first resolution from the US Justice Department's unit formed last year called "Civil Rights Fraud Initiative" to crack down on DEI policies using a civil anti-fraud law.

"International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) has agreed to pay the United States $17,077,043, inclusive of civil penalties, to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by failing to comply with anti-discrimination requirements in its federal contracts due to practices the United States contends ...