January 26, 2017
The SEC charged two former executives at Och-Ziff Capital Management Group with being the driving forces behind a far-reaching bribery scheme that violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The SEC’s complaint alleges that Michael L. Cohen, former head of Och-Ziff’s European office, and Vanja Baros, an investment executive on Africa-related deals, caused tens of millions of dollars in bribes to be paid to high-level government officials in Africa. Their alleged misconduct induced the Libyan Investment Authority sovereign wealth fund to invest in Och-Ziff managed funds. Cohen and Baros also allegedly directed illicit efforts to secure mining deals to benefit Och-Ziff by directing bribes to corruptly influence government officials in Chad, Niger, Guinea, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. SEC
Tagged in: FCPA,