Global banks are the poster children of sanctions violations and the importance of trade compliance.  At the top of the heap is Standard Chartered Bank. In a long-awaited resolution of a multi-year investigation, the Justice Department, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC), the New York District Attorney’s (DANY), the Federal Reserve, the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) and the...

For criminal defense practitioners, it is easy to lose perspective when focused on FCPA, export control/sanctions and AML prosecutions.  In the healthcare fraud area, prosecutors continue to aggressively enforce anti-kickback and fraud statutes through criminal prosecutions. The Justice Department has made its priority in this area clear – by dedicating law enforcement resources and prosecutors to investigating and prosecuting healthcare fraud schemes.  As government participation...

In a significant False Claims Act enforcement action, DOJ announced settlements with three pharmaceutical companies – Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Lundbeck, and Alexion Pharmaceuticals – under which they agreed to pay $122 million to resolve allegations they violated the False Claims Act by paying Medicare of the Civilian Health and Medical Program (ChampVA) copayments for their own products through allegedly independent foundations that the companies used as...

Companies that depend on federal funding (e.g. healthcare, government contractors and university researchers) face significant risks for False Claims Act prosecutions.  Relying on pro-government False Claims Act statutes, potential whistleblowers can earn enormous judgments by filing private actions under seal, and seeking federal government intervention in the matter, to prosecute False Claims Act violations.  In those cases where the federal government agrees to intervene, the...

It is always easy to second-guess or look back with 20-20 hindsight on a compliance breakdown and point out all the problems that were ignored or created by corporate actors.  There are common factual scenarios that recur in DOJ and regulatory enforcement actions, some of which fall into certain categories.  While defense counsel (being effective advocates) often argue that bad actors are often “rogue” employees,...

Tom Fox and I recently had a chance to discuss the Fresenius Medical FCPA enforcement action. A link to the podcast is here. Fresenius Medical, the largest supplier of dialysis equipment and services, agreed to pay $231 million to the Justice Department and the SEC to resolve FCPA violations in 17 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Europe. Fresenius entered a non-prosecution agreement with...

In another blockbuster FCPA prosecution, the Justice Department and the SEC announced an $850 million settlement with Mobile Telesystems (“MTS”), Russia’s largest mobile carrier. At the same time, the Justice Department announced criminal indictments against an MTS executive and the notorious corrupt Uzbek official, Gulnara Karimova, on criminal charges. In this episode, Michael Volkov discusses the MTS Telesystems FCPA enforcement action.

Fresenius Medical’s FCPA settlement for $231 million demonstrates again the continuing vitality surrounding the FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy – which provides a carefully constructed framework for encouraging voluntary disclosures and FCPA enforcement.   Fresenius earned a non-prosecution agreement and was not required to enter a deferred prosecution agreement and designate a subsidiary to plead guilty to an FCPA criminal offense.  Additionally, given the geographic breadth of...

Fresenius Medical came close to earning a declination under the FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy.  Unfortunately, Fresenius’ effort fell short — but it came close.  Fresenius Medical operates more than 3700 dialysis clinics worldwide and has 37 production sites in various countries. Fresenius’ relationship with third-party agents and distributors created significant risks.  These relationships, in a number of high-risk countries, were used to funnel bribery payments. ...

Fresenius Medical, the largest supplier of dialysis equipment and services agreed to pay $231 million to the Justice Department and the SEC to resolve FCPA violations in 17 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Europe. Fresenius entered a non-prosecution agreement (here) with the Justice Department, in which it agreed to pay an $87 million payment and a two-year corporate monitor.  Fresenius agreed to enhance...