FCPA

October 27, 2014

Texas-based global water management, construction, and drilling company Layne Christensen Company agreed to pay more than $5M to settle charges it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by making improper payments to foreign officials in several African countries in order to obtain beneficial treatment and reduce its tax liability.  SEC

July 28, 2014

Massachusetts-based firearm manufacturer Smith & Wesson agreed to pay $2M to settle charges it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by providing guns and cash to Pakistani police officials in order to win a contract with the Pakistani police department.  SEC

April 9, 2014

The SEC charged Hewlett-Packard with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) when its subsidiaries in Russia, Poland and Mexico made improper payments to government officials to obtain or retain lucrative public contracts.  Hewlett-Packard agreed to pay more than $108M to settle the SEC’s charges and a parallel criminal case by the DOJ.  SEC

January 9, 2014

The SEC charged global aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) when its subsidiaries repeatedly paid bribes, collectively valued at more than $110M,  to government officials in Bahrain to maintain a key source of business.  Alcoa agreed to settle the SEC’s charges and a parallel criminal case by the DOJ for $384M.  SEC

November 13, 2015

French power and transportation company Alstom S.A. was sentenced to pay a $772 million fine for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) through its payment of millions of dollars in secret bribes to government officials across the globe.  According to the company’s own admissions, Alstom paid bribes to government officials and falsified books and records in connection with power, grid and transportation projects for state-owned entities around the world, including in Indonesia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the Bahamas and Taiwan.  Alstom concealed the bribes by retaining consultants purportedly to provide consulting services but that actually served as conduits for the illegal payments.  In total, Alstom paid more than $75 million in bribes to secure more than $4 billion in projects around the world, with a profit to the company of approximately $300 million.  Whistleblower Insider

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