July 27, 2010

GE Settles Oil-for-Food Matter

Posted by wrageblog under FCPA, Iraq, United Nations, enforcement | Tags: , , , , |
Leave a Comment 

On July 27, 2010, the SEC charged General Electric Company and two subsidiaries – formerly known as Ionics, Inc. and Amersham plc – with paying illegal kickbacks to the Iraqi Ministry of Health and Ministry of Oil in connection with sales of humanitarian goods under the United Nations (“UN”) Oil-for-Food Program.  Over $3.5 million in kickbacks were allegedly paid between 2000 and 2003 by GE subsidiaries Marquette-Hellige, OEC-Medical Systems (Europa) AG, Nycomed Imaging AS and Ionics Italba S.r.L.  GE, Ionics and Amersham consented to the entry of a final judgment permanently enjoining them from future violations of the FCPA’s books and records and internal controls provisions.  GE was ordered to pay $22.5 million in disgorgement of profits and prejudgment interest and a $1 million civil penalty.

The Compendium summary of this matter may be accessed here.

 

July 7, 2010

Snamprogetti and Eni Settle FCPA Charges for Combined $365 Million in Penalties

Posted by wrageblog under Africa, FCPA, Nigeria, US Government, enforcement | Tags: , , , , , , , |
Leave a Comment 

On July 7, 2010, Snamprogetti Netherlands BV and Eni SpA settled FCPA charges with the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a combined $365 million in penalties.  Under the terms of a two-year deferred prosecution agreement with the DOJ, Snamprogetti agreed to pay a $240 million criminal fine and Snamprogetti, Eni and Saipem SpA agreed to ensure that their compliance programs satisfied certain standards and agreed to cooperate with the DOJ’s ongoing investigations.  Snamprogetti and Eni also reached a settlement of a related civil complaint with the SEC, agreeing jointly to pay $125 million in disgorgement of profits and prejudgment interest.  A long-running investigation and prosecution by the Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office appears to be ongoing.

Snamprogetti Netherlands BV (“Snamprogetti”) was part of the four-company “TSKJ” joint venture [Technip of France; Snamprogetti; KBR of the U.S.; and JGC Corporation of Japan] that was alleged to have paid hundreds of millions in bribes to Nigerian officials between 1995 and 2004 in order to secure four engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts for the development of liquefied natural gas facilities on Bonny Island in Nigeria.  In February 2009, Halliburton and KBR settled FCPA charges related to its involvement in the scheme, resulting in $579 million in combined penalties.  The DOJ and SEC have been investigating other joint venture partners since.  Recently, on June 28, 2010, Technip settled with the DOJ and SEC for $338 million in combined penalties.

During the relevant time period, Snamprogetti was a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of Italy’s oil and gas giant, Eni SpA.  Eni became a U.S. issuer in 1995 and remains a 43% owner in Snamprogetti’s current parent company, Saipem SpA.

To access the Compendium summary regarding this matter, please click here.

 

June 28, 2010

Technip Settles FCPA Charges for Combined $338 Million in Penalties

Posted by wrageblog under Africa, FCPA, France, Nigeria, US Government, enforcement | Tags: , , , , , , , |
Leave a Comment 

On June 28, 2010, Technip SA, the Paris-based engineering, construction and services company, settled FCPA charges with the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a combined $338 million in penalties.  Under the terms of a two-year deferred prosecution agreement with the DOJ, Technip agreed to pay a $240 million criminal fine, to retain an independent compliance monitor for a two-year period and to cooperate with the DOJ in its ongoing investigations.  Technip also reached a settlement of a related civil complaint with the SEC, agreeing to pay $98 million in disgorgement of profits and pre-judgment interest.  The French government’s investigation of the company appears to be ongoing.

Technip was part of the four-company “TSKJ” joint venture [Technip of France; Snamprogetti Netherlands B.V. (a subsidiary of Saipem SpA of Italy); KBR of the U.S.; and JGC Corporation of Japan] that was alleged to have paid hundreds of millions in bribes to Nigerian officials between 1995 and 2004 in order to secure engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts for the development of liquefied natural gas facilities on Bonny Island in Nigeria.  In February 2009, Halliburton and KBR settled FCPA charges related to its involvement in the scheme, resulting in $579 million in combined penalties.  The DOJ and SEC have been investigating other joint venture partners since.  

Technip’s American Depository Receipts (“ADRs”) were traded on the New York Stock Exchange from 2001 until 2007.

The Compendium summary regarding this matter may be accessed here:  https://secure.traceinternational.org/compendium/view.asp?id=148

 

May 12, 2010

Digi International Announces FCPA Investigation

Posted by wrageblog under Gift Hospitality & Travel, voluntary disclosure | Tags: , |
Leave a Comment 

Digi International, Inc. announced on May 10th that it voluntarily disclosed potential violations of the FCPA to the DOJ and SEC. According to the company’s 10-Q, the investigation is focused on violations of Digi’s gifts, travel and entertainment policy by employees in the Asia Pacific region. The Company’s Chief Financial Officer, Subramanian Krishna, resigned as a result of the inquiry. For a summary of the investigation please visit the  TRACE Compendium.

 

April 30, 2010

SEC Charges Four Former Tobacco Company Employees With FCPA Violations in Kyrgyzstan and Thailand

Posted by wrageblog under FCPA, Kyrgyzstan, Thailand, US Government, enforcement | Tags: , , , , , |
Leave a Comment 

On April 28, 2010, the SEC filed a settled civil injunctive action against four former employees of Dimon, Inc. (now Alliance One International, Inc.) for violations of the FCPA in connection with tobacco purchases and sales in Kyrgyzstan and Thailand.  The SEC’s investigation remains ongoing.  For a summary of this enforcement action, please visit the TRACE Compendium.

 

April 1, 2010

Daimler AG and Three Subsidiaries Resolve FCPA Charges

Posted by wrageblog under Daimler, FCPA, US Government, enforcement | Tags: , , , , , , , , |
Leave a Comment 

On April 1, 2010, Daimler AG and three of its subsidiaries formally resolved FCPA charges in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. For a summary of this enforcement action, please visit the TRACE Compendium.

 

March 18, 2010

Innospec Reaches $40.2 Global Settlement

Posted by wrageblog under FCPA, Indonesia, Iraq, UK Government, US Government, enforcement | Tags: , , , , , , , |
Leave a Comment 

Today, March 18, 2010, Innospec reached a formal settlement with the DOJ, SEC and SFO resolving the agencies’ coordinated bribery investigation into the company and its subsidiaries’ activities in Iraq and Indonesia.  To read a full summary of the investigation and settlement, please visit the TRACE Compendium.

 

February 19, 2010

Alcatel-Lucent Also On Verge of Settling FCPA Probe

Posted by wrageblog under Compliance monitors, FCPA, US Government, enforcement | Tags: , , , , , , , , |
Leave a Comment 

Recently issued 10-Ks and consolidated financial statements are telling us a lot about the status of various FCPA investigations that the DOJ and SEC have underway (as well as recent developments in foreign bribery enforcement by their counterparts overseas).  Last week, on February 11, 2010, Alcatel-Lucent reported in its consolidated financial statements that it had reached agreements in principle with the staff at both the DOJ and SEC in December 2009.

According to Note 34 in the consolidated financials, the agreements with the agencies relate to alleged FCPA violations in Costa Rica, Taiwan and Kenya.  The proposed settlement agreement with the SEC anticipates $45.4 million in disgorgement of profits (with pre-judgment interest) and the imposition of a three-year French anti-corruption compliance monitor.  The proposed settlement with the DOJ would involve a three-year deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) and a $92 million criminal fine.  In addition, three Alcatel-Lucent subsidiaries – Alcatel-Lucent France, Alcatel-Lucent Trade and Alcatel Centroamerica – are expected to each plead guilty to violating the FCPA’s anti-bribery, books and records and internal controls provisions.  The DOJ agreement would also include provisions regarding the French compliance monitor.

The French Investigating Magistrate (Tribunal de grande instance de Paris) is conducting an investigation into the activities of Alcatel-Lucent subsidiaries in Costa Rica, Kenya, Nigeria and French Polynesia.  The Attorney General of Costa Rica has also investigated and taken action against Alcatel-Lucent France and eleven individual defendants.

The improprieties at issue were first discovered in 2004 during an investigation by Costa Rican prosecutors.  Alcatel (which became Alcatel-Lucent in 2006) then conducted an internal investigation into the matter and terminated various employees, including Christian Sapsizian, the former Alcatel Vice President responsible for Costa Rica, and Edgar Valverde Acosta, the company’s former Senior Country Officer for Costa Rica.  U.S. authorities arrested Sapsizian, a French citizen, in November 2006 as he attempted to change planes at Miami International Airport on his way to Paris.  He was indicted for violating the FCPA and money laundering and subsequently pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the FCPA and one substantive FCPA violation.  In September 2008, Sapsizian was sentenced to 30 months in prison and three years supervised release, and ordered to forfeit $261,500.  Acosta was indicted in March 2007 but remains a fugitive.

Over the next few months, the TRACE Compendium will be rolling out additional summaries of ongoing U.S. and non-U.S. investigations, adding to our existing database of consummated enforcement actions.

 

February 17, 2010

Pride International Sets Aside $56.2 Million in Anticipation of FCPA Settlement

Posted by wrageblog under FCPA, US Government, enforcement, voluntary disclosure | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |
Leave a Comment 

On February 16, 2010, Pride International, Inc. announced that it had set aside $56.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2009 in anticipation of a resolution with the DOJ and SEC over the company’s potential liability under the FCPA.  The accrued amount represents Pride’s best estimate of potential fines, penalties and disgorgement related to settling the matter with the agencies.  Pride made a voluntary disclosure in 2006 to the DOJ and SEC regarding potential FCPA violations it had uncovered following an internal audit and investigation into the company’s Latin American operations.

Recently, on December 11, 2009, the SEC charged Bobby Benton, Pride’s former Vice President, Western Hemisphere Operations with violating – and aiding and abetting violations of – the FCPA’s anti-bribery, books and records and internal controls provisions, as well as making false representations to accountants, in connection with improper payments allegedly made by Pride subsidiaries to Venezuelan and Mexican government officials between 2003 and 2005.

Pride’s February 16, 2010 press release can be accessed here.

 

January 13, 2010

TRACE Compendium Update: SEC Brings “Books and Records” Action For Inaccurate Recording of Extorted Bribes

Posted by wrageblog under FCPA, TRACE Compendium, enforcement | Tags: , , , , |
Leave a Comment 

On January 11, 2010, the SEC filed a settled civil action charging NATCO Group Inc., the Houston-based oilfield services company, with violations of the FCPA’s books and records and internal controls provisions in connection with the improper recording of extorted bribes and other questionable payments in Kazakhstan by the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, TEST Automation & Controls, Inc. In 2007, TEST made $55,000 in cash payments to Kazakh immigration officials in response to a threat to fine, jail and/or deport TEST expatriate employees working in the country. While these payments may not have violated the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions, the SEC found that the creation and acceptance of false documentation to justify and record the payments violated the FCPA’s books and records and internal controls provisions. NATCO also allegedly used false invoices and improperly recorded $80,000 in questionable payments to a consultant to assist in obtaining immigration visas from the Kazakh Ministry of Labor for TEST’s expatriate employees.

NATCO’s internal audit department uncovered the irregularities in late 2007, after which the company conducted an internal investigation and submitted a voluntary disclosure to the SEC. NATCO settled the matter without admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations, agreeing to pay a $65,000 civil penalty and to the entry of a cease-and-desist order.

The SEC noted that NATCO undertook a variety of measures to strengthen its anti-bribery compliance program and internal accounting controls, including, notably, joining “a non-profit association specializing in anti-bribery due diligence that, among other things, screens potential partners and other third parties that work with multinational corporations.” The SEC also noted that NATCO’s internal investigation covered TEST’s worldwide operations, including Nigeria, Angola and China – “geographic locations with historic FCPA concerns.” No further wrongdoing was uncovered by NATCO’s expanded investigation.

For more information on this or other international anti-bribery enforcement actions, please visit the TRACE Compendium.

 

Next Page »