Featured Articles:

Telefónica’s Bribery Scheme — The Usual Suspects and Tools (Part II of III)

We should all admit something (among many things) — reading through factual statements of bribery offenses, the facts all start to meld together.  Criminals are not as ingenuous or creative as they think, and the schemes they employ are fairly straightforward. Let’s start with one profound grasp of the obvious  — To pay bribes, criminals have to “steal” money from the company, that is, they...

Telefónica Pays $85.2 Million to Settle FCPA Charges involving Venezuela Bribery (Part I of III)

Telefónica Venezolana C.A. (“Telefónica Venezolana”), the Venezuela-based subsidiary of Telefónica S.A. (Telefónica), the Spanish telecommunications company entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (“DPA”) and agreed to pay over $85.2 million to resolve DOJ FCPA charges stemming from bribery payments to Venezuelan government officials to secure preferential access to U.S. dollars in a currency auction. Telefónica Venezolana entered into a three-year DPA and the filing of a...

Webinar: DOJ’s Recent Compliance Program Guidance

Webinar: DOJ’s Recent Compliance Program Guidance December 3, 2024, 12 Noon EST Sign Up HERE In September and November 2024, the Department of Justice issued revised versions of its Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Program (“ECCP”) and its Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs in Antitrust Criminal Investigations (“ECCP-Antitrust”), respectively. DOJ’s guidance continues to break new ground and reaffirm important compliance priorities, especially in areas involving technology...

Episode 345 — Raytheon Settles for $950 Million for Fraud, FCPA, ITAR and False Claims Act Violations

Raytheon Company (Raytheon) — a subsidiary of defense contractor, RTX (formerly known as Raytheon Technologies Corporation) — agreed to pay over $950 million to resolve the Justice Department’s investigations into: (i) a major government fraud scheme involving defective pricing on certain government contracts; (ii) violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA); and (iii) the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) and its implementing regulations, the International Traffic...

The Trump Administration’s Focus on the Department of Justice and Priorities (Part III of III)

The Justice Department is about to undergo some fundamental changes.  The 2nd Trump Administration will take some initial broad strokes designed to increase accountability and control of prosecutors and laws enforcement.  The FBI The first on the chopping block is the FBI.  Under existing law, the FBI is a component of the U.S. Department of Justice, presumably under the control and oversight of the Attorney...

Forecasting the 2nd Trump Administration: Foreign Policy Changes and Increased Trade and Tariff Enforcement (Part II of III)

The 2nd Trump Administration will mean significant change in foreign policy, most especially the importance of ending the Russia-Ukraine war, increased focus on Iran and its proxies, and aggressive use of trade policies and tools to execute the policy and promote United States businesses. Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war and the unprecedented global sanctions and export controls regime, trade enforcement and compliance have...

Forecasting the 2nd Trump Administration: Translating Initiatives to Enforcement and Compliance Priorities (Part I of III)

As the dust settles on the U.S. Election, companies are quickly analyzing the impact for businesses, federal civil and criminal enforcement priorities and the implications for ethics and compliance. When a new Administration comes into power, change is inevitable and can be far-reaching.  Given the change with President Trump’s return to the White House, and in light of several of his stated intentions, companies should...

Episode 344 — SEC Settles FCPA Case with Moog, Inc. for $1.7 Million

The SEC notched another FCPA settlement, continuing its steady pursuit and resolution of FCPA cases.  In the meantime, the Justice Department has been silent in the FCPA enforcement arena.  In its latest settlement, Moog, Inc. (“Moog”), a New York-based global manufacturer of motion controls systems for aerospace, defense, industrial and medical markets, agreed to pay a civil penalty of $1.1 million and disgorge nearly $600,000,...

OFAC Imposes $860,000 Penalty on Vietnamese Beverage Company for Violations of North Korean Sanctions

By: Daniela Melendez, Associate at The Volkov Law Group, and Alex Cotoia, Regulatory Compliance Manager. Daniela can be reached at [email protected] and Alex can be reached out at [email protected]. North Korea Sanctions Violations In a recent enforcement action, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) imposed an $860,000 penalty on Vietnam Beverage Company Limited (“VBCL”), a holding company based in Vietnam, for apparent...

BIS Imposes $500,000 Penalty on Semiconductor Manufacturer for Entity List Violations

On November 1, 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) imposed a $500,000 monetary penalty on GlobalFoundries U.S. 2 LLC and its parent, GlobalFoundries U.S. Inc., for a series of unauthorized exports to SJ Semiconductor (“SJS”), a restricted party contained on BIS’s ubiquitous Entity List. This recent enforcement action reflects BIS’s steadfast commitment to enforcing U.S. export controls, especially in...