Archive

December 2, 2022

Global technology company ABB Ltd. will pay over $315 million for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Between 2014 and 2017, ABB paid bribes to Eskom Holdings Limited, a South African state-owned and controlled energy company. The bribes were paid to subcontractors associated with a South African government official and were used to obtain business advantages in the awarding of contracts. ABB conducted sham negotiations on pre-arranged pricing, and falsely recorded payments—portions of which were meant as bribes—to subcontractors as legitimate business expenses. DOJ; SEC

September 27, 2022

Oracle Corporation has been ordered to pay more than $23 million to resolve charges that its subsidiaries in Turkey, the UAE, and India violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.  According to the SEC, between 2016 and 2019, the subsidiaries used slush funds to pay foreign officials and their families to attend international technology conferences in exchange for business.  Oracle India was previously sanctioned for similar charges in 2012.  SEC

September 15, 2022

Brazil’s second largest airline, GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes S.A. (GOL), has agreed to pay $70 million to the SEC and $41 million to civil and criminal authorities in the U.S. and Brazil to resolve charges of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.  The airline allegedly offered and paid $3.8 million in bribes to various officials in Brazil to help usher in legislation involving certain payroll taxes and fuel tax reductions that were favorable to the airline.  DOJ; SEC

June 2, 2022

Luxembourg-based steel pipe manufacturer Tenaris will pay more than $78 million to resolve claims that between 2008 and 2013 its Brazilian subsidiary paid bribes to obtain and retain business from the Brazil state-owned entity Petrobras.  The SEC alleged that Tenaris violated the anti-bribery, books and records, and internal accounting controls provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.  SEC

May 24, 2022

Switzerland-based mining and commodity trading firm Glencore International A.G. and an affiliate have agreed to pay over $1.1 billion in criminal penalties and forfeitures, and will plead guilty to violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and conspiracy to engage in commodity price manipulation.  In addition, the companies will pay over $1.186 billion in civil penalties and disgorgement in settlement with the CFTC.  As part of the criminal plea agreement, Glencore admitted that between 2007 and 2018, it corruptly provided more than $100 million in payments and other things of value to intermediaries for the payment of bribes to officials in Nigeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Brazil, Venezuela, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  With respect to the commodity price manipulation scheme, the CFTC found that from as early as 2007 through at least 2018, Glencore sought to increase profits from its physical and derivatives oil products trading by manipulating or attempting to manipulate four U.S. based S&P Global Platts physical oil benchmarks and related futures and swaps.  Criminal fines and forfeitures total over $700 million for the FCPA violations and nearly $486 million for the for the market manipulation violations, which amounts are subject to credits for amounts paid to the CFTC and foreign authorities including the United Kingdom.  The $1.186 billion CFTC resolution will also be reduced, with Glencore receiving credit for payments in the criminal resolutions.  DOJ; USAO SDNY; CFTC

April 20, 2022

Waste management company Stericycle Inc. agreed to pay a total of $84 million and enter into a deferred prosecution agreement admitting to the payment of millions of dollars in bribes to government officials in Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina in order to obtain and retain business and to secure improper advantages in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.  The company’s foreign subsidiaries maintained false records to conceal the bribes, which were typically paid in cash and recorded on spreadsheets using code words and euphemisms, including describing the payments made in Argentina as “alfajores.”  Stericycle’s total payment consists of a $28 million payment to resolve an investigation by the SEC, a $52.5 million criminal penalty, and $9.3 million to resolve investigations by the Controladoria-Geral da União (CGU) and the Advocacia-Geral de União (Attorney General’s Office) in Brazil, part of which will be credited to reduce the criminal penalty.  DOJ; SEC

February 17, 2022

South Korean telecommunications company KT Corporation will pay $6.3 million to resolve charges that the company and its executives engaged in multiple improper payment schemes in Korea and Vietnam in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The company allegedly failed to have adequate accounting controls, resulting in the creation of slush funds used for gifts and illegal political contributions to government officials who had influence over KT Corp.’s business.  SEC

January 10, 2022

The SEC has issued two awards totaling more than $4 million to three whistleblowers whose information and assistance helped bring about two successful enforcement actions.  In the first order, a single whistleblower who reported internally before providing significant new information to the agency on an existing investigation was awarded $2.6 million.  According to the SEC, the misconduct occurred overseas and would have been difficult to detect without the whistleblower’s tip.  In the second order, two whistleblowers received a joint award of $1.5 million for providing substantial ongoing assistance.  SEC

November 9, 2021

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced a $24.3 million whistleblower award to Gwang Ho Kim, a former Hyundai safety engineer who provided critical information to NHTSA about safety defects in millions of Hyundai and Kia vehicles.  The award under the Motor Vehicle Safety Whistleblower Act was made in connection with Hyundai and Kia’s 2020 agreement to pay combined penalties of up to $210 million. NHTSA.