Corruption, Crime & Compliance

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20 Mar, 2024

Gunvor’s Blockbuster FCPA Settlement: Lessons Learned and Trends (Part III of III)

The Department of Justice’s blockbuster FCPA settlement with Gunvor restores the credibility of DOJ’s pronouncements of DOJ’s commitment to aggressive FCPA enforcement. While I have questioned DOJ’s commitment to its corporate enforcement policy in recent high-profile settlements (ABB and SAP, in particular), DOJ’s Gunvor settlement of $661 million stands as the ninth largest FCPA settlement in history. DOJ’s settlement is proportionate to the misconduct and...

General

19 Mar, 2024

Gunvor’s Bribery Schemes — Third-Parties, Shell Companies and Evasion of Controls (Part II of III)

Gunvor’s bribery scheme is not very surprising nor ingenious. After all, a number of energy trading companies have been prosecuted for bribery over the years, including Glencore, Vitol, Freepoint. Numerous individuals have been prosecuted, convicted and some have cooperated. The global energy trading market presents numerous risk factors — large and valuable energy products (oil, gas etc.) are controlled by foreign-owned companies. All of these...

General

18 Mar, 2024

Gunvor Falls Under FCPA Axe and Agrees to Pay Criminal Penalty of $661 Million (Part I of III)

You have to give the Justice Department credit — after two slow enforcement years, DOJ is starting off 2024 with a relative “bang;” first, DOJ reached a large settlement with SAP in January, and now, DOJ has reached a blockbuster settlement with Gunvor S.A. for $661 million. Gunvor is one of the world’s largest commodities trading companies. DOJ’s settlement represents a “return” to its long-standing...

Podcasts

17 Mar, 2024

Episode 313 — The Coming Sanctions Criminal Corporate Enforcement Storm

There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm. Will Cather DOJ has promised an aggressive criminal corporate enforcement program against sanctions violators. The storm is coming and will arrive soon with a bang. There is no question that DOJ’s enforcement initiative is coming — it is just a question as to when. In this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews the elements...

General

15 Mar, 2024

Former Stericyle Official Charged in Foreign Bribery Scheme

According to the terms of a superseding information made public by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York on or about February 13, 2024, Mauricio Gomez Baez (“Baez”)—a former Stericycle executive for Latin America—was officially charged with a single count of conspiracy for his role in a multi-year scheme to expand Stericycle’s business opportunities in the Latin American region (particularly, Mexico,...

General

13 Mar, 2024

Ex-Vitol Oil & Gas Trader Convicted of Bribing Foreign Officials

Following an 8 week trial, a federal jury in Brooklyn has convicted Javier Aguilar on charges relating to the former Vitol trader’s violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He faces up to 30 years in prison. Aguilar bribed officials in Mexico and Ecuador to obtain contracts from their state-owned oil companies. He was also convicted of using a complex money laundering scheme to avoid...

General

13 Mar, 2024

Justice Department Focuses on Artificial Intelligence Assisted Crime

In the face of rapid technology changes, the Department of Justice usually has to play catch up. When cryptocurrency and blockchain entered the United States economy, the Justice Department played catch up. Fraudsters and other criminals innovate and embrace new technologies to prey on victims. The Justice Department usually catches up but there is often a lag as “innovative” criminals gain certain market advantages. DOJ...

General

12 Mar, 2024

The UK Modern Slavery Act: Easy Wins and Practical Compliance (Part II of II)

In Part I, we discussed the basics behind the UK Modern Slavery Act of 2015. To briefly reiterate, that Act requires any company doing business in the UK with an annual turnover of £36 million or more to publicize their efforts in combatting modern slavery in their respective supply chains through an annual statement. The Act itself established minimum requirements for these statements, but there...

General

11 Mar, 2024

Compliance With the UK Modern Slavery Act: What It Means for Companies (Part I of II)

If you follow our blog, you’ll notice lately we’ve been writing frequently on topics related to human trafficking and modern slavery. This is no accident, as new laws and regulations related to this growing area of compliance continue to spring into existence. Lately, I’ve fielded some inquiries related to the UK Modern Slavery Act of 2015. While the Act is not necessarily new, there has...

Podcasts

10 Mar, 2024

Episode 312 — Eddie Green, CEO of SnippetSentry, on Communications Preservation Risks

Companies have a vested interest in preserving internal communications for a variety of reasons — to hold actors accountable and to protect the organization from potential private and government claims or investigations that may have serious direct or collateral consequences. Companies that want to use ephemeral messaging systems can do so, but they have to understand the risks involved and tailor appropriate controls and procedures...