Medical device maker Merit Medical Systems (“MMS”) agreed to pay $18 million to resolve allegations that the company submitted false claims to Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE by paying kickbacks to physicians and hospitals to induce increased use of MMS products. Dr. Charles J. Wolf, Merit’s former chief compliance officer, filed a whistleblower complaint against the firm in April 2016 following his resignation, in which he...

J&F Investimentos SA (“J&F), a Brazilian private investment company, plead guilty to FCPA bribery violations in federal court in Brooklyn, New York.  As part of the plea agreement, J&F agreed to pay a fine of $256 million and to cooperate with ongoing investigations of other companies and individuals involved in the bribery schemes. J& F owns numerous companies around the globe, including in the meat...

The Justice Department finally closed out its investigation of Goldman Sachs’ massive bribery scheme involving Malaysia’s 1MDB fund.  The case is now the largest in US FCPA history (based on its payment to DOJ and related US agencies). Goldman Sachs entered into  three-year deferred prosecution agreement (“DPA”) with the filing of a criminal information charging conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA.  At...

Boeing is the new poster child for corporate governance failures and misconduct.  Move over Wells Fargo, General Motors, Volkswagen, Novartis, Siemens and Wal-Mart, and make room for Boeing.  Like General Motors and its ignition switch scandal, innocent consumers were killed as a direct result of corporate governance failures and blatant misconduct. In this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews recent events surrounding Boeing’s 737 MAX scandal. The...

In two recent FCPA enforcement actions, the Justice Department focused on bribery schemes involving Petroecuador government officials.  Petroecuador is the state-owned oil and gas company in Ecuador. In the first, DOJ announced an indictment against Javier Aguilar, an oil trader at Vitol, an energy and commodity trading company, for his role in a five-year international bribery and money laundering scheme carried out in Ecuador. In the...

Global companies have to conduct periodic audits of its high-risk third party partners.  With the continuing pandemic, such audits have to be conducted remotely.  As a result, companies face significant challenges in conducting these audits in these difficult times. In this Episode, Michael Volkov interviews Jessica Sanderson, Partner at The Volkov Law Group, on how to conduct a remote third party audit. LISTEN HERE

Global companies face a number of challenges and a myriad of regulatory obligations. In December 2019, the EU adopted a directive  to promote and protect persons who report violations of law.  Companies will be required to implement compliance reporting channels and provide protection for certain whistleblowers from retaliation.  To the extent companies already maintain internal reporting systems may have to modify their programs to meet...

DOJ and the SEC settled concluded its long-pending FCPA investigation of Herbalife Nutrition Ltd (“Herbalife”). Herbalife entered into a 3-year deferred prosecution agreement (“DPA”) with DOJ and an administrative order with the SEC, and agreed to pay $55 million in criminal penalties and $67 million in disgorgement and prejudgment interest to the SEC. In this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews the Herbalife FCPA settlement. Listen HERE.

In a surprise indictment, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced that Steve Bannon, Brian Kolfage, Andrew Badolato and Timothy Shea were indicted for defrauding hundreds of thousands of donors in response to the “We Build The Wall” online fundraising campaign.  The indictment charges the defendants in defrauding donors from more than $25 million. In this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews...