In 2017, when President Trump first took office, big changes were expected in FCPA enforcement. Much of this reflected President Trump’s expressed misgivings on the substance of the FCPA. He was not a big fan of the law and made his opinion known. The Trump Administration, however, did not dismantle FCPA enforcement and in fact, DOJ and the SEC increased FCPA enforcement. DOJ and the...
Córdoba Music Group LLC (Córdoba), a manufacturer of musical instruments based in California, has agreed to pay $41,591 to settle its civil liability for violations of sanctions on Iran. On nine occasions, Córdoba shipped instruments and related accessories that it knew were ultimately destined for Iran. Córdoba voluntarily self-disclosed the violations to OFAC. Between June 4, 2014 and October 30, 2018, Córdoba maintained a distribution...
OFAC means what it says — in more ways than one. In a precedent setting case, OFAC brought its first enforcement action against an individual for violating the Global Magnitsky Sanctions Regulations. In 2017, OFAC implemented regulatory sanctions derived from the Global Magnitsky Act and its associated Executive Order. The 2017 Executive Order 13818 declared a national emergency with respect to serious human rights abuses...
Enforcement and compliance prognosticators (like myself) continued to push DOJ’s promise to transform sanctions enforcement into the era of “the new FCPA.” While DOJ’s promise to bring about an aggressive corporate enforcement program, akin to the FCPA, no new corporate cases were brought on the sanctions front. 2023 included the British American Tobacco as a bell whether of things to come. 2024 was interesting in...
While DOJ did not have an overwhelming FCPA enforcement year, DOJ has devoted significant energy to tweaking its enforcement and compliance policies. These measures were believed to coincide with a number of significant prosecutions — but alas, they really did not materialize. The modifications and tweaks to DOJ’s Corporate Enforcement Policy, however, were significant. DOJ’s primary focus has been on accountability and prosecution of individuals...
Criminals can be creative — that is a true statement but essentially FCPA criminals have to embrace a variety of well-established techniques to accomplish a straight-forward goal — steal money from the company to funnel bribery payments to foreign officials. The complement of 2024 FCPA cases saw some of our standard techniques (or schemes) but a few presented some new twists. To help organize these...
With the end of the Biden Administration, it is hard to identify a consistent theme relating to FCPA enforcement. On the one hand, the Biden Administration talked a big game, elevating the anti-corruption fight as a national security priority and promising even more aggressive FCPA enforcement than the prior Trump Administration. At the same time, the Justice Department modified its Corporate Enforcement Policies, tightening the...
C.H. Robinson International Inc. (CHR), a Minnesota-based global transportation and logistics company, has agreed to pay $257,690 to settle civil liability for 82 apparent violations of sanctions against Iran and Cuba conducted by five of its non-U.S. subsidiaries. Over a period of more than three years, these five subsidiaries provided freight brokerage or transportation services for 82 shipments, to or from Iran, of Iranian- or...
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) recently issued a Final Order against The Indium Corporation of America, citing eleven (11) alleged violations of the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) between April 14, 2022, and March 31, 2023. The violations involved unauthorized exports of solder preforms, solder wires, and solder ribbons to Russia. These items, though classified as EAR99, required an export...
Despite a relatively slow year in OFAC sanctions enforcement, OFAC closed 2024 with a string of settlements in five cases, including its second in 2024 against an individual defendant. While OFAC had a slow year, DOJ continued to increase its criminal enforcement of sanctions cases against individuals, increasing its prosecutions to 70 in 2024, nearly 30 more than 2023 (42). However, in 2024, DOJ did...
