March 1, 2017, 12 Noon EST Sign up HERE The Justice Department continues to reap great benefits from its aggressive False Claims Act — civil and criminal — enforcement program.  2016 was another multi-billion dollar year for False Claims Act recoveries, especially against healthcare providers, hospitals, skilled nursing and hospice facilities. The Supreme Court also delivered an important decision on False Claims Act implied certification...

The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division has a long history of independence within the US Department of Justice. Antitrust enforcement was considered a unique area requiring a specialized understanding of markets and economics. In the civil enforcement area, this expertise and understanding of economics, competition and business makes sense. As a former prosecutor, the Antitrust Division’s prosecution of criminal violations is not so unique. Antitrust prosecutors...

The SEC recently filed a lengthy civil complaint against two Och-Ziff executives: Michael Cohen, who headed Och-Ziff’s European office, and Vanja Barros, an executive responsible for Africa-related transactions, charging them with participation in a massive bribery scheme in Libya, Chad, Niger, Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Last year, Och-Ziff settled with the Justice Department and the SEC, and agreed to pay fines and...

The phrase tone at the top is becoming trite. Compliance professionals use it over and over, and few people explain how to apply the concept.   Speakers and webinar presenters always gloss over tone at the top, emphasizing its importance but providing little practical advice. In some sense, it is hard to define in specific actions since the context and the actors can vary with respect...

My good friend and colleague Dan Chapman, now the CCO at VimpelCom, is a compliance rock star. I have known Dan for years, beginning when he took over at Parker Drilling and implemented a world-class remediation program to pull Parker Drilling through a difficult FCPA problem. Dan is now heading the effort to remediate and “fix” VimpelCom after the FCPA enforcement action announced last year....

Following a separate SEC action (here), the Justice Department resolved FCPA charges against Las Vegas Sands for $7 million. DOJ and Las Vegas Sands entered into a non-prosecution agreement (NPA) citing much of the same evidence outlined by the SEC in its enforcement action against Las Vegas Sands for $9 million. The Justice Department’s NPA includes a statement of facts centering on large payments made...

In an unusual FCPA enforcement action, the Justice Department and the SEC resolved FCPA violations against Sociedad Quimica y Minera, a Chilean chemical and mining company, for a total of $30.5 million, for paying approximately $15 million in bribes to Chilean officials. SQM agreed to a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with DOJ and to assignment of a two-year independent compliance monitor. The odd aspect of...

In its continuing quest to push the message of aggressive FCPA enforcement, the SEC resolved FCPA charges against Orthofix, a medical device company, for $6 million in penalties and disgorgement. In a related action, the SEC announced that Orthofix and four executives agreed to pay $8 million for accounting control errors. The Justice Department declined to prosecute Orthofix. All of this sounds reasonable, except for...

Lessons Learned from 2016 — Strategies to Improve Your Compliance Program Tuesday February 7th, 9AM PST/ 12 PM EST  SIGN UP HERE The United States Department of Justice and regulatory agencies continued to beat the drum on aggressive enforcement and the importance of compliance.  The Trump Administration is unlikely to alter this effort, except in certain areas like civil antitrust and environmental and labor regulation....