Archive

June 7, 2016

Massachusetts-based internet services provider Akamai Technologies will pay more than $650,000 pursuant to a non-prosecution agreement with the SEC.  Akamai self-reported violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act after finding that a foreign subsidiary arranged for $40,000 in payments to Chinese officials to induce government-owned entities to purchase more services than they actually needed.  SEC

June 21, 2016

Denmark-based ultrasound equipment maker BK Medical ApS, a subsidiary of Massachusetts technology company Analogic Corporation, agreed to pay $3.4 million to resolve allegations it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act through making improper payments to doctors employed by Russian state-owned entities.  DOJ

April 20, 2016

Dmitrij Harder, former owner and president of Chestnut Consulting Group Inc. and Chestnut Consulting Group Co. pleaded guilty to bribing an official at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.  According to admissions made with Harder’s plea, the EBRD was a multilateral development bank headquartered in London that was owned by more than 60 sovereign nations and provided financing for development projects in emerging economies, primarily in Eastern Europe.  Harder admitted he engaged in a scheme to pay approximately $3.5 million in bribes to an EBRD official to corruptly influence the official’s actions on applications for EBRD financing submitted by the Chestnut Group’s clients and to influence the official to direct business to the Chestnut Group.  DOJ

April 7, 2016

Resort company Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS) will pay $9 million to settle charges of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).  An SEC investigation found that LVS kept inaccurate books and records and frequently lacked supporting documentation or proper approvals for more than $62 million in payments to a consultant in Asia.  The consultant acted as an intermediary to obscure the company’s role in certain business transactions, such as the purchase of a basketball team to play in the Chinese Basketball Association (which does not permit gaming companies to own team) or the purchase of a building in Beijing from a state-owned company (where casino gambling is not permitted).  SEC

March 23, 2016

Abraham Jose Shiera Bastidas, the owner of multiple U.S.-based energy companies, pleaded guilty to violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by paying bribes to secure energy contracts from Venezuela’s state-owned and state-controlled energy company, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A.  DOJ

March 1, 2016

Olympus Corp. of America, the country’s largest distributor of endoscopes and related equipment, agreed to pay $623.2 million to resolve alleged violations of the False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute through a scheme to pay kickbacks to doctors and hospitals.  It is the largest payout ever by a medical device company for violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute.  In addition, Olympus subsidiary Olympus Latin America Inc. also agreed to pay $22.8 million to resolve separate charges relating to violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.  The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by John Slowik, Olympus’ former chief compliance officer, under the qui tam provisions of the federal and various state False Claims Acts.  He will receive a whistleblower award of roughly $51 million from the proceeds of the government’s recovery.  Whistleblower Insider

March 1, 2016

March 1, 2016 – Telecommunications company Qualcomm Inc. will pay $7.5 million to settle charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by hiring relatives of Chinese government officials involved with the decision of whether to purchase Qualcomm’s mobile technology products.  An SEC investigation also found Qualcomm provided gifts, travel, and entertainment to officials at government-owned telecom companies in China in an attempt to influence their purchasing decisions.  SEC

February 18, 2016

February 18, 2016 – Telecommunications provider VimpelCom Ltd. will pay $795 million in a global settlement with the SEC, DOJ, and Dutch regulators to resolve allegations that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in connection with its business in Uzbekistan.  The SEC alleges that Vimpelcom offered and paid bribes to an Uzbek government official related to the President of Uzbekistan, as the company entered the Uzbek market and sought government-issued licenses, frequencies, channels, and number blocks.  At least $114 million in bribe payments were funneled through an entity affiliated with the Uzbek official.  The SEC’s press release announcing the settlement described VimpelCom’s revenues in Uzbekistan as a result of the improper payments as “massive.”  VimpelCom will pay $167.5 million to the SEC, $230.1 million to the DOJ, and $397.5 million to Dutch regulators.  SEC

February 16, 2016

February 16, 2016 – Massachusetts-based technology company PTC Inc. and its Chinese subsidiaries will pay more than $28 million to settle civil and criminal actions involving violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).  An SEC investigation found that two Chinese subsidiaries of PTC provided non-business related travel and other improper payments to various Chinese government officials in an effort to win business.  Specifically, the SEC’s order found that from 2006 to 2011, PTC’s subsidiaries provided improper travel, gifts, and entertainment totaling nearly $1.5 million to Chinese government officials.  PTC gained nearly $11.8 million in profits from contracts with state-owned entities whose officials received the improper payments.  PTC will pay about $13.6 million to settle the SEC’s charges and its Chinese subsidiaries will pay $14.54 million in a non-prosecution agreement with the DOJ.  The SEC also announced its first deferred prosecution agreement with an individual in an FCPA case.  The SEC agreed to defer for three years, FCPA charges against Yu Kai Yuan, a former employee of one of PTC’s Chinese subsidiaries, based on his significant cooperation with the SEC’s investigation.  SEC

February 18, 2016

Amsterdam-based telecommunications company VimpelCom Limited and its wholly owned Uzbek subsidiary, Unitel LLC, agreed to pay roughly $795 million under settlements with the DOJ, SEC and the Public Prosecution Service of the Netherlands to settle charges of violating the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.  Specifically, the companies admitted making more than $114 million in bribery payments to a government official in Uzbekistan to enable them to enter and continue operating in the Uzbek telecommunications market.  It is one of the largest global FCPA settlements ever and the largest case to date brought under the DOJ's Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative.  Whistleblower Insider