Archive

November 22, 2019

South Korea-based Samsung Heavy Industries Company Ltd. will pay $75 million in a global settlement of allegations that it engaged in an unlawful scheme to bribe government officials in Brazil.  Half of the total settlement, $37.74 million, will be paid to resolve a U.S. criminal action that the company violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; the other half will be paid either to Brazilian authorities on or before November 25, 2020, or to the U.S.  Samsung was alleged to have paid millions to a Brazil-based intermediary, knowing and intending that those funds would be used to bribe officials at the Brazilian state-owned Petrobras in order to obtain a shipbuilding contract for Samsung.  DOJ; USAO ED VA

October 2, 2019

Brokerage firm Lek Securities Corp. and its CEO Sam Lek will pay almost $2 million to resolve allegations that they facilitated the manipulative trading scheme of Ukraine-based customer Avalon FA, Ltd.  Lek provided Avalon with the means to engage in "layering" and other cross-market manipulation.  Layering involves placing and canceling orders to signal inaccurate prices.  Avalon also engaged in other practices to buy and sell stocks to artificially impact options prices.  Lek Securities will pay a $1 million penalty plus $526,000 in disgorgement and interest; Sam Lek will pay a $420,000 penalty.  Defendants have admitted the facts alleged and Lek Securities has agreed to retain an independent compliance monitor.  SEC

September 27, 2019

Canadian Westport Fuel Systems, Inc., and its former CEO Nancy Gougarty will pay $4.1 million to resolve charges that they violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in making payment to Chinese government officials.  The clean fuel technology company was found by the SEC to have transferred shares in a Westport Chinese joint venture to a Chinese private equity firm in which a government official held a financial interest, misrepresented the identity of the parties involved, and circumvented internal accounting controls.  SEC

September 26, 2019

Wisconsin-based Quad/Graphics Inc., a digital and print marketing provider, has agreed to pay $10 million to settle charges of bribing government officials in Peru and China in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).  The alleged misconduct by Quad/Graphics’ Peruvian subsidiary, Quad/Graphics Peru S.A., occurred from at least 2011 to 2016 and involved paid or promised bribes to government officials in order to win contracts, avoid penalties, and influence the Peruvian tax authority.  From 2010 to 2015, Quad/Graphics’ Chinese subsidiary, Quad/Tech Shanghai Trading Company, Ltd., allegedly paid or promised bribes to government employees using sham sales agents.  As part of the settlement, Quad/Graphic will pay nearly $7 million in disgorgement, $1 million in prejudgment interest, and a $2 million civil penalty, as well as self-report on its compliance program for one year.  SEC

September 23, 2019

TechnipFMC plc. was ordered by the SEC to pay $5 million to resolve allegations that the company violated the FCPA by making payments to a third party consultant who used some of the money to bribe Iraqi government officials to win business with state-owned oil companies.  The company, which previously paid $296 million to settle FCPA charges by the DOJ, was also charged with violating the FCPA’s books and records and internal accounting controls provisions.  The SEC settlement included a three-year deferred prosecution agreeement.  SEC

August 29, 2019

Technology company Juniper Networks, Inc., will pay $11.7 million to resolve alleged FCPA violations in its Russian and Chinese subsidiaries.  The company allegedly provided entertainment to customers including government officials, recording the expenses in off-book accounts or misrepresenting the nature of the meetings.  The SEC order also found that Juniper violated internal accounting controls and recordkeeping provisions.  SEC

August 29, 2019

The SEC announced that a whistleblower has been awarded $1.8 million for reporting misconduct committed abroad.  According to the SEC, the whistleblower’s tip and extensive cooperation—including providing ongoing information, document review, and sworn testimony—were critically important to bringing about a significant enforcement action.  SEC

July 30, 2019

A Micronesian government official has been sentenced to 1.5 years in a U.S. prison for participating in a scheme to launder bribes from the owner of a Hawaii-based engineering and consulting company.  In violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Master Halbert had agreed to bribes in exchange for directing nearly $8 million in aviation contracts from Micronesia’s Department of Transportation, Communications and Infrastructure to co-defendant Frank Lyon.  DOJ

July 22, 2019

Microsoft’s Hungarian subsidiary, Microsoft Magyarország Számítástechnikai Szolgáltató és Kereskedelmi Kft., has agreed to pay a $8.7 million to the DOJ and $16.6 million to the SEC to settle allegations of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.  From 2013 to 2015, executives at Microsoft Hungary falsely represented to Microsoft that steep discounts were necessary for resellers of software licenses to the Hungarian government.  However, the resellers did not pass on the discounts to the Hungarian government, and used them for instead unspecified corrupt purposes.  DOJ; USAO SDNY; SEC

June 25, 2019

International gas and oil provider TechnipFMC plc (TFMC) and its U.S. subsidiary, Technip USA, Inc., have agreed to pay over $296 million to settle bribery charges by U.S. and Brazilian authorities.  TFMC had allegedly violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act from 2003 to 2013 by paying bribes to government officials in Brazil and Iraq in order to secure improper business advantages.  TFMC received a criminal fine reduction of 25% for cooperating fully and taking extensive remedial measures and a $214 million credit for penalties paid to the Brazilian government for overlapping conduct.  DOJ, USAO EDNY