Archive

September 30, 2015

Former chief financial officer of Siemens S.A. – Argentina Andres Truppel pleaded guilty to conspiring to pay tens of millions of dollars in bribes to Argentine government officials to secure, implement and enforce a $1 billion contract to create national identity cards.  In connection with his guilty plea, Truppel admitted he engaged in the decade-long scheme which involved concealing the illicit payments through various means, including using shell companies associated with intermediaries to disguise and launder the funds and by paying $7.4 million as part of a hedging contract with a foreign currency company incorporated in the Bahamas.  Truppel also admitted he used a $27 million contract between a Siemens entity and a company called MFast Consulting AG that purported to be for consulting services to conceal bribes to Argentine officials.  DOJ.

August 31, 2015

Vadim Mikerin, a Russian official residing in Maryland, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with his role in arranging over $2 million in corrupt payments to influence the awarding of contracts with the Russian state-owned nuclear energy corporation.  DOJ

July 17, 2015

New Jersey-based construction management company Louis Berger International Inc. admitted to violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and agreed to pay a $17.1 million criminal penalty to resolve charges it bribed foreign officials in India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Kuwait to secure government construction management contracts.  Specifically, from 1998 through 2010, the company and its employees orchestrated $3.9 million in bribe payments concealed as “commitment fees,” “counterpart per diems,” and other payments to third-party vendors.  DOJ

June 16, 2015

Florida defense and government contracting company IAP Worldwide Services Inc. agreed to pay a $7.1 million penalty to resolve charges it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by conspiring to bribe Kuwaiti officials in order to secure a government contract there.  DOJ

June 15, 2015

Joseph Sigelman, the former co-chief executive officer of BVI oil and gas company PetroTiger Ltd., pleaded guilty to conspiring to pay bribes to a foreign government official in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).  At his plea hearing, Sigelman admitted to conspiring with co-CEO Knut Hammarskjold, PetroTiger’s former general counsel Gregory Weisman, and others to make illegal payments of $333,500 to David Duran, an employee of the Colombian national oil company, Ecopetrol.  Sigelman admitted to making the payments in exchange for Duran’s assistance in securing a $45 million oil services contract for PetroTiger. DOJ

March 23, 2015

Former principal vice president of Bechtel Corporation Asem Elgawhary was sentenced to 42 months in prison for accepting $5.2 million in kickbacks to manipulate the competitive bidding process for state-run power contracts in Egypt.  One of the power companies who supplied the bribes, Alstom S.A., pleaded guilty in December to violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.  DOJ

December 22, 2014

French power and transportation company Alstom S.A. pleaded guilty today and agreed to pay $772M to resolve charges of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act through a widespread scheme involving tens of millions of dollars in bribes in countries around the world, including Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the Bahamas. Whistleblower Insider

December 17, 2014

New York-based cosmetics giant Avon Products Inc.and its wholly owned subsidiary Avon Products (China) Co. Ltd. pleaded guilty to violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by making and concealing illicit payments to Chinese government officials to secure business there. The company agreed to pay more than $135M in criminal and regulatory penalties to resolve the charges. According to the government, from at least 2004 through 2008, Avon and Avon China conspired to falsify Avon’s books and records by falsely describing the nature and purpose of certain Avon China transactions. Specifically, the companies sought to disguise more than $8 million worth of gifts, travel, meals and entertainment that Avon China executives gave to Chinese officials. The Avon entities will pay $68M in criminal penalties and another $67M in related FCPA matter it settled with the SEC. Whistleblower Insider

December 17, 2014

Former CEO Benito Chinea and former managing director Joseph De Meneses of a US broker-dealer which established a group called Global Markets Group pleaded guilty to violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FPCA) and the Travel Act by bribing senior official in Venezuela’s state economic development bank in return for trading business that generated more than $60M. Chinea and De Meneses also agreed to pay $3.6M and $2.7M, respectively. DOJ

December 10, 2014

Dallas Airmotive Inc., a provider of aircraft engine maintenance, repair and overhaul services, admitted to violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and agreed to pay a $14M criminal penalty to resolve charges it bribed Latin American government officials in order to secure lucrative government contracts there. According to Dallas Airmotive’s admissions, between 2008 and 2012, the company bribed officials of the Brazilian Air Force, the Peruvian Air Force, the Office of the Governor of the Brazilian State of Roraima, and the Office of the Governor of the San Juan Province in Argentina. DOJ