Tagged: SEC

15 Jan, 2025

The FCPA Year in Review — More of the Same with Some Twists (Part I of III)

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...

Podcasts

12 Jan, 2025

Episode 351 — Deep Dive in AAR Services FCPA Settlement

How did a high-stakes bribery scheme involving insider deals, Airbus planes, and secret payments bring down a global aviation giant? In this episode, Michael Volkov dives deep into the AAR Corporation FCPA case—a cautionary tale of bribery, insider deals, and compliance failures in high-risk sectors. The DOJ and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) closed 2024 with a major coordinated settlement with AAR Corporation, a...

General

7 Jan, 2025

DOJ and SEC Close 2024 with FCPA Enforcement Action Against AAR Corp; DOJ and SEC Announces Resolution with Deepak Sharma, CEO of AAR Subsidiary (Part I of II)

The Justice Department and the SEC finished 2024 with a coordinated resolution of criminal and civil FCPA charges against AAR Corporation, an Illinois-based provider of aviation products and services. In addition, DOJ unsealed a criminal indictment and guilty plea dated August 1, 2024, by Deepak Sharma, CEO of an AAR Subsidiary for his role in the FCPA scheme. Also, the SEC entered into a separate civil...

Podcasts

6 Jan, 2025

Episode 350 — Deep Dive into McKinsey FCPA Settlement

What went wrong when McKinsey paid bribes to secure consulting contracts with South Africa’s state-owned enterprises? In this episode, Michael Volkov dives into the December 2024 DOJ settlement with McKinsey & Company, which paid $122 million after being found guilty of paying bribes to officials at Transnet and Eskom to secure valuable consulting contracts. The case involved significant violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act...

General

19 Dec, 2024

Lessons Learned from McKinsey’s FCPA Enforcement Action — Local Partners and Third Parties (Part III of III)

Deja Vu all over again — Yogi Berra Yogi Berra said it best — we have seen this scenario before, with similar parties — corrupt foreign officials from Eskom (and Transnet), local partner requirements resulting in engagement of unqualified businesses, and corrupt third parties who assist the bribery scheme in exchange for a cut of the action. This is a familiar set of facts, and...

General

18 Dec, 2024

McKinsey Company’s Bribery Scheme — A Familiar Pattern in South Africa (Part II of III)

The McKinsey FCPA case follows several other significant cases involving South Africa. ABB and SAP resolved FCPA cases involving bribes in South Africa; on the SEC front, Gartner resolved a bribery case involving South Africa. Like these other cases, McKinsey’s bribery scheme focused on two important state-owned enterprises: Transnet Ltd, the South African company responsible for operation of ports, rails and pipelines; and Eskom Ltd.,...

Podcasts

15 Dec, 2024

Episode 349 — The BIT Mining FCPA Settlement

What happens when a Chief Executive Officer becomes the architect of a global bribery scheme? In this episode of Corruption, Crime, and Compliance, Michael Volkov delivers an in-depth analysis of the BIT Mining FCPA case — a landmark matter that underscores the severe consequences of C-suite misconduct. With CEO Zhengmin Pan at the center of the conspiracy, BIT Mining’s efforts to infiltrate Japan’s emerging casino...

General

12 Dec, 2024

BIT Mining FCPA Settlement and Lessons Learned (Part III of III)

Bit Mining, formerly 500.com, was a doomed company from the beginning, When a CEO orchestrates a bribery scheme with the assistance of other senior executives, shareholders and the public have little chance of ensuring a business operating with ethics and integrity. 500.com’s future was sealed when it embraced bribery as a means to avoid head-to-head competition against established US and European companies seeking to enter...

Uncategorized

11 Dec, 2024

BIT Mining Bribery Scheme — CEO Directed Payments and the Cover-Up (Part II of III)

In reviewing FCPA bribery fact patterns, it is a rare occasion when a company’s CEO is at the epicenter of the criminal conspiracy. In the BIT Mining case, standing atop all of the actors is the CEO Zhengming Pan, Bit Mining’s former CEO and a Chinese national. DOJ had no choice but to charge Pan with a criminal FCPA conspiracy. Others could have been charged...

Podcasts

10 Nov, 2024

Episode 344 — SEC Settles FCPA Case with Moog, Inc. for $1.7 Million

The SEC notched another FCPA settlement, continuing its steady pursuit and resolution of FCPA cases. In the meantime, the Justice Department has been silent in the FCPA enforcement arena. In its latest settlement, Moog, Inc. (“Moog”), a New York-based global manufacturer of motion controls systems for aerospace, defense, industrial and medical markets, agreed to pay a civil penalty of $1.1 million and disgorge nearly $600,000,...