Tagged: FCPA

15 Feb, 2021

The Urgency of Ethics and Compliance – The Biden Administration and Enforcement

The Biden Administration has a lot on its plate – that is obvious. Tackling the COVID-19 pandemic and restoring economic growth is one of the most difficult challenges ever facing our country. Across the government, a new administration poses significant changes in priorities. The Justice Department will be tough on corporate crime and compliance. With the exception of a failure to prosecute individuals responsible for...

General

29 Sep, 2020

Sargeant Marine Pleads Guilty to FCPA Charges and Agrees to Pay $16.6 Million

The Justice Department announced a guilty plea to FCPA charges by Sargeant Marine, Inc., a privately-owned company, based in Boca Raton, Florida. Sargeant Marine, an asphalt company, plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA and agreed to pay a fine of $16.6 million for bribery schemes in Brazil, Venezuela and Ecuador. Between 2010 and 2018, Sargeant Marine...

General

27 Aug, 2020

DOJ Secures Guilty Plea and Charges A Second Former PDVSA Official with Money Laundering

The Justice Department continues to pursue criminal cases against Venezuelan officials at Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) in an attempt to strangle President Nicolas Maduro. DOJ has been pursuing a three-pronged strategy by bringing cases in the New York, Miami and Houston federal courts. DOJ has been pursuing officials who have left Venezuela and now reside in Spain and other European locations. DOJ has charged...

General

17 Jul, 2020

DOJ Charges Two Sons of Former Panama President Martinelli with Participation in Odebrecht Bribery Scheme in Panama

DOJ announced the arrest of two individuals, Luis Martinelli Linares and Ricardo Martinelli Linares, who are the sons of the former President of Panama, Ricardo Martinelli) for their role in funneling $28 million in bribes to a former Panamanian government official as part of the Odebrecht bribery case. Luis and Ricardo were arrested while attempting to board a private airplane at an airport in Guatemala...

General

6 Apr, 2020

A Personal Tribute to Judge Stanley Sporkin (Part I of II)

Judge Stanley Sporkin was a mentor, a professional colleague and a friend. I admired Judge Sporkin, respected his commitment to integrity and valued our professional collaboration and personal friendship. Judge Stanley Sporkin died on March 23, 2020. He was 88 years old. I am compelled to write about my friend. I will miss him. Judge Sporkin’s reputation for fairness and integrity was beyond reproach. His...

Podcasts

5 Apr, 2020

Episode 135 — A Personal Tribute to Judge Stanley Sporkin

Judge Stanley Sporkin, a mentor, friend and professional colleague, died at age 88 on March 23, 2020. In a personal tribute to Judge Sporkin, I recount some highlights of my relationship with Judge Sporkin.

General

3 Feb, 2020

Airbus Agrees to Pay $4 Billion in Global Settlement of Foreign Bribery and ITAR Violations (Part I of IV)

In a blockbuster case, the Justice Department announced a global settlement with Airbus SE, a manufacturer of civilian and military aircraft, under which Airbus agreed to pay over $4 billion (yes, with a “B”) to resolve charges with the United States, France, and the United Kingdom for its role in a bribery scheme, and to resolve Airbus’ violation of the International Trade in Arms Regulations...

General

10 Dec, 2019

Ericsson’s Pervasive Bribery Conduct: The Toxic Mix of Senior Executive Involvement and Third Party Corruption (Part II of II)

Ericsson’s FCPA settlement is in the books (not the books and records). But it casts a significant shadow across the FCPA landscape. A pervasive and systemic culture of bribery is defined to reflect senior executive involvement, winning business at any cost and using bribery as an accepted business strategy. Ericsson will now pay more than just the price of a $1 billion settlement; it will...

General

3 Sep, 2019

Second Circuit Affirms FCPA Conviction of Ng Lap Seng and Rejects Application of Supreme Court’s McDonnell Decision to FCPA

In an interesting decision, well worth a read here, on August 9, 2019, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rejected Ng Lap Seng’s appeal of his 2017 conviction for bribery of united Nationals officials. In affirming the conviction, the Second Circuit ruled that the Supreme Court’s holding in McDonnell (see blog post here), in which the Court ruled that under 18 USC...

General

1 Aug, 2019

Digging into High-Risk Distributors (Part II of II)

Compliance professionals are implementing their own monitoring and auditing strategies. Internal audit does not have the resources nor the time to assume responsibility for this function. If possible, internal audit may support, advise and assist in the monitoring and auditing functions. Frankly, a partnership between compliance and internal audit in this area is ideal but compliance cannot wait for internal audit to join the mission. ...