2 COMPANIES ENTER INTO $795 MILLION RESOLUTION TO RESOLVE GLOBAL BRIBERY CASE

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Thursday, February 18, 2016

VimpelCom Limited and Unitel LLC Enter into Global Foreign Bribery Resolution of More Than $795 Million; United States Seeks $850 Million Forfeiture in Corrupt Proceeds of Bribery Scheme

Companies Agree to Pay $230 Million U.S. Criminal Fine in Connection with Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Resolution; Largest Case Ever Brought under the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative

Amsterdam-based VimpelCom Limited, the world’s sixth-largest telecommunications company and an issuer of publicly traded securities in the United States, and its wholly owned Uzbek subsidiary, Unitel LLC, entered into resolutions with the Department of Justice today in which they admitted to a conspiracy to make more than $114 million in bribery payments to a government official in Uzbekistan between 2006 and 2012 to enable them to enter and continue operating in the Uzbek telecommunications market.

In a related action, the department also filed a civil complaint today seeking the forfeiture of more than $550 million held in Swiss bank accounts, which constitute bribe payments made by VimpelCom and two separate telecommunications companies, or funds involved in the laundering of those payments, to the Uzbek official.  The forfeiture complaint follows an earlier civil complaint filed on June 29, 2015, which seeks forfeiture of more than $300 million in bank and investment accounts held in Belgium, Luxembourg and Ireland that also constitute funds traceable to bribes, or funds involved in the laundering of the bribes, paid by VimpelCom and another telecommunications company to the same Uzbek official.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara of the Southern District of New York, Chief Richard Weber of Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) and Special Agent in Charge Clark E. Settles of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) Washington, D.C., Field Office.

“These cases combine a landmark FCPA resolution for corporate bribery with one of the largest forfeiture actions we have ever brought to recover bribe proceeds from a corrupt government official,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell.  “The Criminal Division’s FCPA enforcement program and our Kleptocracy Initiative are two sides of the same anti-corruption coin.  The FCPA resolution in this case is also one of the most significant coordinated international and multi-agency resolutions in the history of the FCPA, and demonstrates our commitment both to pursuing justice and to bringing about corporate reform.”

“Today we mark the resolution of criminal charges and civil proceedings against corrupt corporate entities that made bribery a foundation of their business model,” said U.S. Attorney Bharara.  “As they have admitted in court filings, VimpelCom, the world’s sixth largest telecommunications company, with securities traded in New York, and its subsidiary, Unitel, built their business in Uzbekistan on over $114 million in bribes funneled to a government official.  Those payments, falsely recorded in the company’s books and records, were then laundered through bank accounts and assets around the world, including through accounts in New York.”

“Today’s admission of guilt by VimpelCom and Unitel to paying bribes to government officials is a victory for all who fight corruption at all levels,” said Chief Weber.  “It also demonstrates the skill and tenacity of IRS Criminal Investigation special agents when it comes to delving underneath layers of financial transactions designed to conceal illegal payments for gain.  The global economy demands a level playing field for all.  When certain VimpelCom and Unitel executives chose to use deception in order to continue this scheme and take advantage of insider knowledge, they also chose to become criminals.  IRS-CI pledges to continue our efforts on the international stage to stop corrupt financial schemes such as this one.”

“HSI special agents and our law enforcement partners will continue to investigate financial crimes committed by corrupt foreign officials,” said Special Agent in Charge Settles.  “We will not permit ill-gotten gains to be laundered through U.S. financial markets.”

The Criminal Resolution

In the criminal case, Unitel pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a one-count criminal information filed today in the Southern District of New York and assigned to U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos of the Southern District of New York, charging the company with a conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

VimpelCom entered into a deferred prosecution agreement in connection with a criminal information charging the company with conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery and books and records provisions of the FCPA, and a separate count of violating the internal controls provisions of the FCPA.  Pursuant to its agreement with the department, VimpelCom agreed to pay a total criminal penalty of $230,163,199.20 to the United States, including $40 million in criminal forfeiture.  VimpelCom also agreed to implement rigorous internal controls, retain a compliance monitor for a term of three years and cooperate fully with the department’s ongoing investigation, including its investigation of individuals.

In related proceedings, VimpelCom settled with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Public Prosecution Service of the Netherlands (Openbaar Ministrie, or OM).  Under the terms of its resolution with the SEC, VimpelCom agreed to a total of $375 million in disgorgement of profits and prejudgment interest, to be divided between the SEC and OM.  VimpelCom agreed to pay the OM a criminal penalty of $230,163,199.20, for a total criminal penalty of $460,326,398.40, and a total resolution amount of more than $835 million.  The department agreed to credit the criminal penalty paid to the OM as part of its agreement with the company.  The SEC agreed to credit the forfeiture paid to the department as part of its agreement with the company.  Thus, the combined total amount of U.S. and Dutch criminal and regulatory penalties paid by VimpelCom will be $795,326,398.40, making it one of the largest global foreign bribery resolutions ever.

According to the companies’ admissions, VimpelCom and Unitel, through various executives and employees, paid bribes to an Uzbek government official, who was a close relative of a high-ranking government official and had influence over the Uzbek governmental body that regulated the telecom industry.  The companies structured and concealed the bribes through various payments to a shell company that certain VimpelCom and Unitel management knew was beneficially owned by the foreign official.  The bribes were paid on multiple occasions between approximately 2006 and 2012 so that VimpelCom could enter the Uzbek market and Unitel could gain valuable telecom assets and continue operating in Uzbekistan.  VimpelCom and Unitel contemplated additional bribes in 2013, but those bribes were not completed before VimpelCom opened an internal investigation.

In addition, VimpelCom admitted that it falsified its books and records and attempted to conceal and disguise the bribery scheme by classifying payments as equity transactions, consulting and repudiation agreements and reseller transactions.  VimpelCom also failed to implement and enforce adequate internal accounting controls, which allowed the bribe payments to occur without detection or remediation.  Moreover, when the board of directors sought an FCPA legal opinion assessing corruption risks involved in the transactions, certain VimpelCom management withheld crucial information from outside counsel performing the review that restricted the scope of FCPA opinions, rendering them worthless.  Rather than implement and enforce a strong anti-corruption ethic, certain VimpelCom executives sought ways to give the company plausible deniability of illegality while knowingly proceeding with corrupt business transactions.

A number of significant factors contributed to the department’s criminal resolution with the companies.  Among these, the companies received significant credit for their prompt acknowledgement of wrongdoing after being informed of the department’s investigation, for their willingness to promptly resolve their criminal liability on an expedited basis and for their extensive cooperation with the department’s investigation.  Specifically, the criminal penalty reflects a 45 percent reduction off of the bottom of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines fine range.  However, the companies did not receive more significant mitigation credit, either in the penalty or the form of resolution, because the companies did not voluntarily self-disclose their misconduct to the department after an internal investigation uncovered wrongdoing.

The Forfeiture Complaints

The department has also filed two civil complaints seeking a total of $850 million in forfeiture.  A complaint filed today seeks forfeiture of approximately $550 million in proceeds of illegal bribes paid, or property involved in the laundering of those payments, to the Uzbek official by VimpelCom and two other telecommunications companies operating in Uzbekistan.  The $550 million is currently located in Swiss bank accounts.  The department also filed a prior complaint seeking forfeiture of an additional $300 million in proceeds of illegal bribes paid, or property involved in the laundering of those payments, to the same Uzbek official.  The assets sought to be forfeited in that complaint are restrained in Belgium, Luxembourg and Ireland.  In that case, on Jan. 11, 2016, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a partial default judgment against all potential claimants other than the Republic of Uzbekistan.

As alleged in the complaints and as is part of the criminal resolutions announced today, the telecom companies paid a total of more than $800 million in bribes so that the Uzbek official would assist VimpelCom and other telecommunications companies in obtaining and retaining business in Uzbekistan.  Thereafter, the official’s associates laundered the corruption proceeds through accounts held in Latvia, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Ireland, Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland.  The illicit funds were transmitted through financial institutions in the United States before they were deposited into accounts in these countries, thereby subjecting them to U.S. jurisdiction.

The department brought these forfeiture actions under the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative in the Criminal Division’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section (AFMLS), working in partnership with federal law enforcement agencies to forfeit the proceeds of foreign official corruption and, where appropriate, to use those recovered assets to benefit the people harmed by corruption and abuse of office.

*          *          *

These cases represent the department’s commitment to both prosecute those who pay bribes and to ensure that the corrupt government officials who receive the bribes cannot use the U.S. financial system to launder their illicit gains.  The IRS-CI and ICE-HSI are investigating the cases, along with the IRS Global Illicit Financial Team in Washington, D.C.  Senior Litigation Counsel Nicola J. Mrazek and Trial Attorney Ephraim Wernick of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Imperatore of the Southern District of New York are prosecuting the criminal case, with substantial assistance from AFMLS.  AFMLS Trial Attorney Marie M. Dalton is prosecuting the forfeiture case with substantial assistance from the Fraud Section.

Law enforcement colleagues within the OM, the Swedish Prosecution Authority, the Office of the Attorney General in Switzerland and the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau in Latvia provided significant cooperation and assistance in this matter.  Law enforcement colleagues in Belgium, France, Ireland, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom have also provided valuable assistance.  The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in this matter.  The SEC referred the matter to the department and provided extensive cooperation and assistance.

POWER COMPANY TO PAY $722 MILLION CHEMICAL FINE TO RESOLVE BRIBERY CHARGES

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Friday, November 13, 2015

Alstom Sentenced to Pay $772 Million Criminal Fine to Resolve Foreign Bribery Charges

Represents Largest-Ever Criminal Foreign Bribery Fine

Alstom S.A., a French power and transportation company, was sentenced today to pay a $772,290,000 fine to resolve criminal charges related to a widespread corruption scheme involving at least $75 million in secret bribes paid to government officials in countries around the world, including Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the Bahamas and Taiwan.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael J. Gustafson the District of Connecticut and Assistant Director in Charge Paul M. Abbate of the FBI’s Washington Field Office made the announcement.

Alstom was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton of the District of Connecticut.  Alstom pleaded guilty on Dec. 22, 2014, to a two-count criminal information charging the company with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by falsifying its books and records and failing to implement adequate internal controls.

In addition, Alstom Network Schweiz AG, formerly Alstom Prom AG (Alstom Prom), Alstom’s Swiss subsidiary, which pleaded guilty on Dec. 22, 2014, to a criminal information charging the company with conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA, was also sentenced today pursuant to its plea agreement.  Alstom Power Inc. and Alstom Grid Inc., formerly Alstom T&D Inc., two U.S. subsidiaries, both entered into deferred prosecution agreements on Dec. 22, 2014, admitting that they conspired to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA.

According to the companies’ admissions, Alstom, Alstom Prom, Alstom Power and Alstom T&D, through various executives and employees, paid bribes to government officials and falsified books and records in connection with power, grid and transportation projects for state-owned entities around the world, including in Indonesia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the Bahamas and Taiwan.  In Indonesia, for example, Alstom, Alstom Prom and Alstom Power paid bribes to government officials—including a high-ranking member of the Indonesian Parliament and high-ranking members of Perusahaan Listrik Negara, the state-owned electricity company in Indonesia—in exchange for assistance in securing several contracts to provide power-related services valued at approximately $375 million.  In total, Alstom paid more than $75 million to secure more than $4 billion in projects around the world, with a profit to the company of approximately $300 million.

Alstom and its subsidiaries also attempted to conceal the bribery scheme by retaining consultants who purportedly provided consulting services on behalf of the companies, but who actually served as conduits for corrupt payments to the government officials.  Internal Alstom documents refer to some of the consultants in code, including “Mr. Geneva,” “Mr. Paris,” “London,” “Quiet Man” and “Old Friend.”

The sentence, which is the largest criminal fine ever imposed in an FCPA case, reflects a number of factors, including: Alstom’s failure to voluntarily disclose the misconduct, even though it was aware of related misconduct at a U.S. subsidiary that previously resolved corruption charges with the department in connection with a power project in Italy; Alstom’s refusal to fully cooperate with the department’s investigation for several years; the breadth of the companies’ misconduct, which spanned many years, occurred in countries around the globe and in several business lines, and involved sophisticated schemes to bribe high-level government officials; Alstom’s lack of an effective compliance and ethics program at the time of the conduct; and Alstom’s prior criminal misconduct, including conduct that led to resolutions with various other governments and the World Bank.

After the department publicly charged several Alstom executives, however, Alstom began providing thorough cooperation, including assisting the department’s prosecution of other companies and individuals.

To date, the department has announced charges against five corporate executives for alleged corrupt conduct involving Alstom.  Frederic Pierucci, Alstom’s former vice president of global boiler sales, pleaded guilty on July 29, 2013, to conspiring to violate the FCPA and a charge of violating the FCPA for his role in the Indonesia bribery scheme.  David Rothschild, Alstom Power’s former vice president of regional sales, pleaded guilty on Nov. 2, 2012, to conspiracy to violate the FCPA.  William Pomponi, Alstom Power’s former vice president of regional sales, pleaded guilty on July 17, 2014, to conspiracy to violate the FCPA.  Lawrence Hoskins, Alstom’s former senior vice president for the Asia region, was charged in an indictment in connection with the Indonesia bribery scheme, and is pending trial in the District of Connecticut in April 2016.  The charges against Hoskins are merely allegations, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.  The high-ranking member of Indonesian Parliament was also convicted in Indonesia of accepting bribes from Alstom, and is currently serving a three-year prison term.  In addition, Marubeni Corporation, which partnered with Alstom on the Indonesia project, pleaded guilty on March 19, 2014 to a criminal information charging conspiracy to violate the FCPA and seven counts of violating the FCPA, and was sentenced on May 15, 2014, to pay an $88 million criminal fine.

In connection with a corrupt scheme in Egypt, Asem Elgawhary, the general manager of an entity working on behalf of the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company, a state-owned electricity company, was the fifth individual charge and pleaded guilty on Dec. 4, 2014, in the District of Maryland to mail fraud, conspiring to launder money and tax fraud for accepting kickbacks from Alstom and other companies, and was sentenced on March 23, 2015, to serve 42 months in prison and forfeit approximately $5.2 million in proceeds.

This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, with assistance from the FBI’s Meriden, Connecticut, Resident Agency.  The department appreciates the significant cooperation provided by its law enforcement colleagues in Indonesia at the Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi (Corruption Eradication Commission), the Switzerland Office of the Attorney General and the United Kingdom’s Serious Fraud Office, as well as authorities in France, Germany, Italy, Singapore and Taiwan.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Daniel S. Kahn of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney David E. Novick of the District of Connecticut, together with Assistant U.S. Attorney Zach Intrater of the District of New Jersey on the investigation of Alstom T&D, and Assistant U.S. Attorney David I. Salem of the District of Maryland on the investigation of Asem Elgawhary.  The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs also provided substantial assistance.      

REMARKS BY ASSISTANT AG CALDWELL REGARDING ALSTON BRIBERY PLEA

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 
Remarks for Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell Press Conference Regarding Alstom Bribery Plea
Washington, DCUnited States ~ Monday, December 22, 2014

Today represents a significant milestone in the global fight against corruption.  It demonstrates the Department of Justice’s strong commitment to fighting foreign bribery and ensuring that both companies and individuals are held accountable when they violate the FCPA.  The guilty pleas and resolutions announced today also highlight what can happen when corporations refuse to disclose wrongdoing and refuse to cooperate with the department’s efforts to identify and prosecute culpable individuals.

Let me first explain how the scheme worked.  To conceal that it was the source of payments to government officials, Alstom funneled the bribes through third-party consultants who did little more than serve as conduits for corruption.  Alstom then dummied up its books and records to cover up the scheme.

Alstom’s corruption spanned the globe, and was its way of winning business.  For example, in Indonesia, Alstom and certain of its subsidiaries used consultants to bribe government officials – including high-ranking members of the Indonesian Parliament and the state-owned and state-controlled electricity company – to win several contracts to provide power-related services.  According to internal documents, when certain officials expressed displeasure that a particular consultant had provided only “pocket money,” Alstom retained a second consultant to ensure that the officials were satisfied.

In Saudi Arabia, Alstom retained at least six consultants, including two close family members of high-ranking government officials, to bribe officials at a state-owned and state-controlled electricity company to win two projects valued at approximately $3 billion.  As evidence that Alstom employees recognized that their conduct was criminal, internal company documents refer to the consultants only by code name.

Alstom similarly used consultants to bribe officials in Egypt and the Bahamas, and again Alstom employees clearly knew that the conduct violated the law.  In connection with a project in Egypt, a member of Alstom’s finance department sent an email questioning an invoice for consultant services and, in response, was advised that her inquiry could have “several people put in jail” and was further instructed to delete all prior emails regarding the consultant.

If approved by the court, Alstom’s criminal penalty of $772 million represents the largest penalty ever assessed by department in a FCPA case.  Through Alstom’s parent-level guilty plea and record-breaking criminal penalty, Alstom is paying a historic price for its criminal conduct -- and for its efforts to insulate culpable corporate employees and other corporate entities.  Alstom did not voluntarily disclose the misconduct to law enforcement authorities, and Alstom refused to cooperate in a meaningful way during the first several years of the investigation.  Indeed, it was only after the department publicly charged several Alstom executives – three years after the investigation began – that the company finally cooperated.  

One important message of this case is this:  While we hope that companies that find themselves in these situations will cooperate with the department of Justice, we do not wait for or depend on that cooperation. When Alstom refused to cooperate with the investigation, we persisted with our own investigation.  We built cases against the various corporate entities and against culpable individuals.  To date, the department publicly has charged four Alstom corporate executives in connection with the corrupt scheme in Indonesia, which also chose not to cooperate, and another company’s executive in connection with the scheme in Egypt.  Four of these individuals already have pleaded guilty.  In addition, Marubeni Corporation, a Japanese trading company that partnered with Alstom in Indonesia, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA and substantive violations of the FCPA, and paid an $88 million criminal penalty.

Another important message from this case is that the U.S. increasingly is not alone in the fight against transnational corruption.  Earlier this year, Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission, the KPK, assisted the department in its investigation.  And, in turn, the department shared with the KPK information that federal investigators had obtained, which the KPK used in its prosecution of a former member of the Indonesian Parliament for accepting bribes from Alstom-funded consultants.  This past spring, that Indonesian official was found guilty and sentenced to three years in an Indonesian prison.  Our partnership with Indonesian law enforcement authorities in this case means that both the bribe payors and bribe takers have been prosecuted.  And our investigation is not over yet.

This case is emblematic of how the Department of Justice will investigate and prosecute FCPA cases – and other corporate crimes.  We encourage companies to maintain robust compliance programs, to voluntarily disclose and eradicate misconduct when it is detected, and to cooperate in the government’s investigation.  But we will not wait for companies to act responsibly.  With cooperation or without it, the department will identify criminal activity at corporations and investigate the conduct ourselves, using all of our resources, employing every law enforcement tool, and considering all possible actions, including charges against both corporations and individuals.

I especially would like to thank the prosecutors from the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut, and the talented agents from the FBI, for their extraordinary work in this matter.  I also would like to thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland for their work on related cases.  And I am grateful to the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs for the substantial and expert assistance that it provided.

In addition to our Indonesian counterparts, I would like to acknowledge the valuable assistance that our law enforcement partners in Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Cyprus, and Germany have provided in this matter.  We are grateful for their assistance and look forward to working with them and our other international partners in the future.

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AIRCRAFT ENGINE MAINTENANCE CO. TO PAY $14 MILLION FOR PAYING BRIBES TO FOREIGN OFFICIALS

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Dallas Airmotive Inc. Admits Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Violations and Agrees to Pay $14 Million Criminal Penalty

Dallas Airmotive Inc., a provider of aircraft engine maintenance, repair and overhaul services based in Grapevine, Texas, has admitted to violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and agreed to pay a $14 million criminal penalty to resolve charges that it bribed Latin American government officials in order to secure lucrative government contracts.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Special Agent in Charge Diego Rodriguez of the FBI’s Dallas Division made the announcement.

A criminal information, filed today in federal court in the Northern District of Texas as part of the deferred prosecution agreement, charges Dallas Airmotive with one count of conspiring to violate the FCPA and one count of violating the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions.

According to Dallas Airmotive’s detailed admissions in the statement of facts accompanying the deferred prosecution agreement, between 2008 and 2012, the company bribed officials of the Brazilian Air Force, the Peruvian Air Force, the Office of the Governor of the Brazilian State of Roraima, and the Office of the Governor of the San Juan Province in Argentina.  Dallas Airmotive used various methods to convey the bribe payments, including by entering into agreements with front companies affiliated with foreign officials, making payments to third-party representatives with the understanding that funds would be directed to foreign officials, and directly providing things of value, such as paid vacations, to foreign officials.

This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Dallas Field Office and is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney David M. Fuhr of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael C. Elliott from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas has provided assistance in the case.  The department acknowledges the assistance of law enforcement counterparts in Brazil.  The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs also provided significant assistance.

HP RUSSIA PLEADS GUILTY BRIBING RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Hewlett-Packard Russia Pleads Guilty to and Sentenced for Bribery of Russian Government Officials

ZAO Hewlett-Packard A.O. (HP Russia), an international subsidiary of the California technology company Hewlett-Packard Company (HP Co.), pleaded guilty to felony violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and was then sentenced for bribing Russian government officials to secure a large technology contract with the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Marshall L. Miller of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag of the Northern District of California, Assistant Director in Charge Andrew G. McCabe of the FBI’s Washington Field Office and Chief Richard Weber of the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) made the announcement.

HP Russia pleaded guilty this morning before U.S. District Judge D. Lowell Jensen of the Northern District of California to conspiracy and substantive violations of the anti-bribery and accounting provisions of the FCPA. According to the plea agreement, HP Russia executives created a multimillion dollar secret slush fund, at least part of which was used to bribe Russian government officials who awarded the company a contract valued at more than € 35 million.

At the conclusion of the plea proceeding, the court sentenced HP Russia to pay a $58,772,250 fine.

“In a brazen violation of the FCPA, Hewlett Packard’s Russia subsidiary used millions of dollars in bribes from a secret slush fund to secure a lucrative government contract,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Miller.  “Even more troubling was that the government contract up for sale was with Russia’s top prosecutor’s office. Tech companies, like all companies, must compete on a level playing field, not resort to secret books and sham transactions to hide millions of dollars in bribes.  The Criminal Division has been at the forefront of this fight because when corruption takes hold overseas, American companies and the rule of law are harmed.  Today’s conviction and sentencing are important steps in our ongoing efforts to hold accountable those who corrupt the international marketplace.”

“Today’s conviction and sentence of HP Russia demonstrates that the United States Attorney’s Office is dedicated to aggressively prosecuting all forms of corporate fraud that touch our district, wherever they may occur,” said U.S. Attorney Haag.  “HP’s cooperation during the investigation is what we expect of major corporate leaders facing the challenges of doing business around the world.”

“For more than a decade HP Russia business executives participated in an elaborate scheme that involved paying bribes to government officials in exchange for large contracts,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge McCabe. “There is no place for bribery in any business model or corporate culture. Along with the Department of Justice, the IRS and international law enforcement partners, the FBI is committed to investigating corrupt backroom deals that threaten our global commerce.”



“HP Russia thought that they could play by a different set of rules than the rest of the international business community,” said IRS-CI Chief Weber. “Unfortunately, they are not alone. For other companies out there conducting business in this way, let the message be very clear—we will relentlessly follow the money trail. IRS-CI is a trusted leader in the pursuit of corporations and executives who circumvent the law. CI is committed to maintaining fair competition, free of corrupt. practices, through a potent synthesis of global teamwork and our dynamic financial investigative talents.”

According to the statement of facts filed with the plea agreement, HP Russia created excess profit margins to finance the slush fund through an elaborate buy-back deal scheme. HP subsidiaries first sold the computer hardware and other technology products called for under the contract to a Russian channel partner, then bought the same products back from an intermediary at a nearly €8 million mark-up and an additional €4.2 million in purported services, then sold the same products to the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation at the increased price. The payments to the intermediary were then largely transferred through multiple layers of shell companies, some of which were directly associated with government officials. Proceeds from the slush fund were spent on travel services, luxury automobiles, expensive jewelry, clothing, furniture and various other items.

To keep track of and conceal these corrupt payments, the conspirators inside HP Russia kept two sets of books: secret spreadsheets that detailed the categories of bribe recipients, and sanitized versions that hid the bribes from others outside of HP Russia. They also entered into off-the-books side agreements to further mask the bribes. As one example, an HP Russia executive executed a letter agreement to pay €2.8 million in purported “commission” fees to a U.K.-registered shell company, which was linked to a director of the Russian government agency responsible for managing the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation project. HP Russia never disclosed the existence of the agreement to internal or external auditors or management outside of HP Russia.

On April 9, 2014, the government also announced criminal resolutions with HP subsidiaries in Poland and Mexico which violated the FCPA in connection with contracts with Poland’s national police agency and Mexico’s state-owned petroleum company, respectively. Pursuant to a deferred prosecution agreement, the department filed a criminal information charging Hewlett-Packard Polska, Sp. Z o.o. with violating the accounting provisions of the FCPA. Hewlett-Packard Mexico, S. de R.L. de C.V. entered into a non-prosecution agreement with the government pursuant to which it has agreed to forfeit proceeds and has admitted and accepted responsibility for its misconduct. In total, the three HP entities will pay $76,760,224 in criminal penalties and forfeiture.

In a related FCPA matter, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a proposed final judgment in April 2014 to which HP Co. consented. Under the terms of the proposed final judgment, HP Co. has paid $31,472,250 in disgorgement, prejudgment interest and civil penalties, bringing the total amount of U.S. criminal and regulatory penalties against HP Co. and its subsidiaries to more than $108 million.  

Court filings acknowledge HP Co.’s extensive cooperation with the department, including conducting a robust internal investigation, voluntarily making U.S. and foreign employees available for interviews, and collecting, analyzing, and organizing voluminous evidence for the department.  Court filings also acknowledge the extensive anti-corruption remedial efforts undertaken by HP Co., including taking appropriate disciplinary action against culpable employees, and enhancing HP Co.’s internal accounting, reporting, and compliance functions.

The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office with assistance from the FBI’s New York Field Office and FBI Legal Attaché offices in Mexico City, Moscow, Berlin and Warsaw, and the IRS-CI’s Oakland Field Office. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Ryan Rohlfsen and Jason Linder of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam A. Reeves of the Northern District of California. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs also provided significant assistance in this matter.

The Justice Department expresses its deep appreciation for the significant assistance provided by the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, the Polish Anti-Corruption Bureau, the Polish Appellate Prosecutor’s Office, the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Dresden, Germany, and our law enforcement partners in Mexico, the United Kingdom, Lithuania, Latvia, Italy, Spain and Hungary.  

FORMER SIEMENS EXECUTIVE SETTLES CHARGES OF BRIBERY

FROM: U.S. SECURITIES EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Former Siemens Executive Uriel Sharef Settles Bribery Charges

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that on April 15, 2013, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a final judgment against Uriel Sharef, a former officer and board member of Siemens Aktiengesellschaft (Siemens). The settlement resolves the Commission's civil action against Sharef for his role in Siemens' decade-long bribery scheme to retain a $1 billion government contract to produce national identity cards for Argentine citizens. The final judgment, to which Sharef consented, enjoins him from violating the anti-bribery and related internal controls provisions of the FCPA and orders him to pay a $275,000 civil penalty, the second highest penalty assessed against an individual in an FCPA case.

On December 13, 2011, the Commission filed a civil action against Uriel Sharef and six other defendants, alleging that between 2001 and 2007, Sharef, along with other Siemens executives, paid bribes to senior government officials in Argentina in connection with a government contract to provide national identity cards to all Argentine citizens. The officials included two Argentine presidents and cabinet ministers in two presidential administrations. During this period, Sharef was a member of Siemens Managing Board, or "Vorstand," and was the most senior officer charged in connection with the scheme. Sharef met with payment intermediaries in the United States and agreed to pay $27 million in bribes to Argentine officials. Sharef also enlisted subordinates to conceal the payments by circumventing Siemens' internal accounting controls.

According to the SEC's complaint, approximately $31.3 million of the $100 million in bribes paid were made after March 12, 2001, when Siemens became a U.S. issuer subject to U.S. securities laws. As a result of the bribe payments it made, Siemens received an arbitration award in 2007 against the government of Argentina of more than $217 million plus interest for the contract. In August 2009, after settling bribery charges with the U.S. and Germany, Siemens waived the arbitration award.

The final judgment permanently enjoins Sharef from violating Sections 30A and 13(b)(5) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 13b2-1 thereunder, and from aiding and abetting Siemens' violations of Exchange Act Sections 13(b)(2)(A) and13(b)(2)(B). The judgment also orders Sharef to pay a civil penalty of $275,000. Sharef settled the SEC charges without either admitting or denying the allegations in the SEC's complaint.

The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Department of Justice, Fraud Section, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Office of the Prosecutor General in Munich, Germany in this matter.

CINCINNATI CONTRACTOR SENTENCED FOR ROLE STEALING FROM EMPLOYEE 401k FUNDS

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

CINCINNATI – The owner and president of Sigma Capital, Inc. in Cincinnati, Samuel P. Mays, 62, was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 51 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for bribing a government official and stealing from his employees’ 401k funds.

Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Robert Hughes, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office (FBI), Elton Malone, Special Agent in Charge, Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG), Office of Investigations, Special Investigations Branch, and L. Joe Rivers, Regional Director, U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration announced the sentence handed down today by Senior U.S. District Judge Sandra S. Beckwith.

A jury convicted Mays in September 2012 of one count each of bribery of a public official, conspiracy, theft or embezzlement from an employee pension plan, and making false statements.

The scheme involved Mays and another construction contractor, Paul McDonald, 70, of Pleasant Hill, California, and David Mersch, 61, the former Operations Officer for the Cincinnati offices of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Cincinnati.

According to trial testimony, Mersch, who lived in Florence, Kentucky accepted bribes from Mays and McDonald in the form of cash and home improvements with a value of at least $175,000 between 2005 and 2011. The jury also convicted Mays of deducting approximately $125,000 from his employees’ paychecks for contribution to their 401k plans, but never depositing the money.

"The nature of a bribery offense is difficult to quantify, because the victim is the public at large and the damage extends beyond the dollars exchanged," Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Mangan wrote in a memorandum filed with the court prior to sentencing. "This pattern of bribery undermines the government contracting process and destroys the presumed impartiality of federal contracting officers."

McDonald pleaded guilty on November 9, 2011 to one count of bribery. He was sentenced on October 31, 2012 to serve five years of probation including 21 months of home confinement and pay a $5,000 fine. He was also disqualified from holding any office of honor, trust or profit and ordered to resign his employment with Entek Mechanical Corporation and to cooperate with the United States in seeking the surrender of Entek’s certification as a government contractor. Mersch pleaded guilty on July 19, 2011 to bribery and is serving 42 months in federal prison. Both testified against Mays during the trial.

"Mays victimized taxpayers and jeopardized his hard-working employees’ futures," said Elton Malone, Special Agent in Charge of the Special Investigations Branch within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General. "We will not tolerate conspiracy schemes and will continue to work tireless to punish such corruption."

"Employer sponsored retirement plans serve a vital role in providing a financially secure retirement for America’s workers," said L. Joe Rivers, Regional Director for the Cincinnati Regional Office of the Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration. "This case underscores EBSA’s commitment to protecting the assets of 401(k) and other employee benefit plans and punishing those who would divert these funds for their own enrichment."

Stewart commended the cooperative investigation by FBI, HHS inspector general, and Department of Labor investigators, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorneys Timothy Mangan and Christy Muncy, who represented the United States in this case.

Mays will surrender to begin serving his prison sentence on a date to be set by the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Prisons.

FORMER CEO KELLOGG, BROWN & ROOT SENTENCED TO 30 MONTHS IN PRISON FOR BRIBERY

The following excerpt is from the Department of Justice website:

“Thursday, February 23, 2012Former Chairman and CEO of Kellogg, Brown & Root Inc. Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison for Foreign Bribery and Kickback SchemesU.K. Solicitor and Former Salesman Also Sentenced for Participation in Scheme to Bribe Nigerian Government Officials

WASHINGTON – Albert “Jack” Stanley, a former chairman and chief executive officer of Kellogg, Brown & Root Inc. (KBR), was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by participating in a decade-long scheme to bribe Nigerian government officials to obtain engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts and for conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud as part of a separate kickback scheme, the Justice Department’s Criminal Division today announced.    

U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison for the Southern District of Texas also ordered Stanley to serve three years of supervised release following the prison term and to pay $10.8 million in restitution to KBR, the victim of the separate kickback scheme.   Stanley, 69, pleaded guilty on Sept. 3, 2008, to a two-count criminal information charging him with one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.

Two of Stanley’s co-conspirators also were sentenced by Judge Ellison.   Today, Jeffrey Tesler, 63, a United Kingdom citizen and licensed solicitor, was sentenced to 21 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release.   Tesler also was ordered to pay a $25,000 fine and previously was ordered to forfeit $148,964,568.   Yesterday, Wojciech J. Chodan, 74, a United Kingdom citizen and former salesman at KBR’s U.K. subsidiary, was sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to pay a $20,000 fine.   Chodan previously was ordered to forfeit $726,885.

Tesler and Chodan were indicted on Feb. 17, 2009, and subsequently extradited to the United States from the United Kingdom.   On Dec. 6, 2011, Chodan pleaded guilty to count one of the indictment charging him with conspiring to violate the FCPA.   On March 11, 2011, Tesler pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and one count of violating the FCPA.
         
All three defendants fully cooperated with the department’s investigation, which resulted in more than $1.7 billion in penalties, disgorgement and forfeitures.   The defendants’ substantial assistance in the investigation and prosecution of other defendants was reflected in the sentences the court imposed.

“Today’s prison sentences for Mr. Stanley and Mr. Tesler mark another important step in our prosecution of those responsible for a massive bribery scheme involving engineering, procurement and construction contracts in Nigeria,” said Mythili Raman, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division.  “These sentences reflect not only the defendants’ illegal acts, but also their substantial cooperation with the government.  As a result of this investigation, three individuals have been convicted of FCPA-related crimes, and five companies in four countries have paid substantial penalties and undertaken significant efforts to enhance their compliance programs.  This case shows the importance the department places on putting an end to foreign bribery.”

According to court documents, KBR was a member of the TSKJ joint venture (named for the first letters of the names of the companies involved), along with Technip S.A., Snamprogetti Netherlands B.V., and JGC Corporation.  Between 1995 and 2004, TSKJ was awarded four EPC contracts, valued at more than $6 billion, by Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Ltd. to build the LNG facilities on Bonny Island.  The government-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation was the largest shareholder of NLNG, owning 49 percent of the company.

From approximately 1994 through June 2004, the joint venture companies, Stanley, Tesler, Chodan and others agreed to pay bribes to a wide range of Nigerian government officials in order to obtain and retain the EPC contracts.   To pay the bribes, the joint venture hired two agents – Tesler and Marubeni Corporation, a Japanese trading company headquartered in Tokyo.   The joint venture hired Tesler as a consultant to pay bribes to high-level Nigerian government officials, including top-level executive branch officials, and hired Marubeni to pay bribes to lower-level Nigerian government officials.  At crucial junctures preceding the award of the EPC contracts, Stanley and other co-conspirators met with successive holders of a top-level office in the executive branch of the Nigerian government to ask the office holders to designate a representative with whom TSKJ should negotiate bribes to Nigerian government officials.  TSKJ paid approximately $132 million to a Gibraltar corporation controlled by Tesler and $51 million to Marubeni during the course of the bribery scheme for use, in part, to pay bribes to Nigerian government officials.

In a related criminal case, KBR’s successor company, Kellogg Brown & Root LLC, pleaded guilty in February 2009 to FCPA-related charges for its participation in the scheme to bribe Nigerian government officials.  Kellogg Brown & Root LLC was ordered to pay a $402 million fine and to retain an independent compliance monitor for a three-year period to review the design and implementation of its compliance program.

In another related criminal case, the department filed a deferred prosecution agreement and criminal information against Technip in June 2010.  According to that agreement, Technip agreed to pay a $240 million criminal penalty and to retain an independent compliance monitor for two years.   In July 2010, the department filed a deferred prosecution agreement and criminal information against Snamprogetti, which also agreed to pay a $240 million criminal penalty.  In April 2011, the department filed a deferred prosecution agreement and criminal information against JGC, in which JGC agreed to pay a $218.8 million criminal penalty and to retain an independent compliance consultant for two years.   In January 2012, the department filed a deferred prosecution agreement and criminal information against Marubeni, in which Marubeni agreed to pay a $54.6 million criminal penalty and to retain a corporate compliance consultant for two years
         
The criminal cases were prosecuted by Assistant Chief William J. Stuckwisch and Deputy Chief Patrick F. Stokes of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, with investigative assistance from the FBI-Houston Division.  The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs and the SEC’s Division of Enforcement provided substantial assistance.  Significant assistance was provided by authorities in France, Italy, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.   Investigative assistance with the prosecution of Stanley was also provided by the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations Division in Houston.”

FORMER CEO OF FLORIDA BASED COMPANY SENTENCED TO 46 MONTHS IN PRISON FOR BRIBING GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS

The following is an excerpt from the Department of Justice website:
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Former CEO of U.S. Telecommunications Company Sentenced to 46 Months in Prison for Bribing Foreign Government Officials
WASHINGTON - A former chief executive officer of Florida-based telecommunications company Latin Node Inc. (LatiNode) was sentenced yesterday to 46 months in prison for paying bribes to former government officials in Honduras, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
U.S. District Judge Joan A. Lenard for the Southern District of Florida also ordered Jorge Granados, of Miami, to serve two years of supervised release following the prison term.
Granados, 55, pleaded guilty on May 19, 2011, to conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in connection with a scheme to pay Honduran officials more than $500,000 in bribes. To date, four former senior executives of LatiNode have pleaded guilty to conspiring to pay bribes to the Honduran officials.
In his guilty plea, Granados admitted to authorizing corrupt payments to foreign government officials for the purpose of securing business advantages for LatiNode from Honduras’s state-owned telecommunications company, Empresa Hondureña de Telecomunicaciones (Hondutel). According to court documents, LatiNode provided wholesale telecommunications services using Internet protocol technology to countries throughout the world, including Honduras. In December 2005, LatiNode learned that it was the sole winner of an “interconnection agreement” with Hondutel, permitting LatiNode to use Hondutel’s telecommunications lines to establish a network between Honduras and the United States and to provide long distance services between the two countries.
According to court documents, Granados and other LatiNode executives, including Manuel Salvoch, the chief financial officer; Manuel Caceres, the vice president for business development; and Juan Pablo Vasquez, the chief commercial officer, agreed to a secret deal to pay bribes to Hondutel officials, including the general manager, a senior attorney for Hondutel, and a minister of the Honduran government who became a representative on the Hondutel Board of Directors. According to court documents, between September 2006 and June 2007, Granados and others caused more than $500,000 in bribes to be paid to the Honduran officials, concealing many of the payments by laundering the money through LatiNode subsidiaries in Guatemala and to accounts in Honduras controlled by the Honduran government officials.
LatiNode pleaded guilty on April 7, 2009, to a one-count information charging the company with a criminal violation of the FCPA and agreed to pay a $2 million fine. The resolution of the criminal investigation of LatiNode reflected, in large part, the actions of eLandia International Inc. in disclosing potential FCPA violations to the department after eLandia’s acquisition of LatiNode in 2007 and discovery of the improper payments.
Salvoch pleaded guilty on Jan. 12, 2011, to conspiracy to violate the FCPA and is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 7, 2011. Vasquez pleaded guilty on Jan. 21, 2011, to conspiracy to violate the FCPA and is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 8, 2011. Caceres pleaded guilty on May 18, 2011, to conspiracy to violate the FCPA, and is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 28, 2011. The three defendants each face prison sentences of up to five years.
The case was prosecuted by Principal Deputy Chief Jeffrey H. Knox and Trial Attorney Amanda Aikman of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. Significant assistance was provided by Trial Attorney James M. Koukios. The case was investigated by the FBI’s Miami Field Office and ICE Homeland Security Investigation’s Foreign Corruption Investigations Group in Miami.”

FORMER PRESIDENT OF LEE DYNAMICS INTERNATIONAL PLEADS GUILTY TO CONSPIRACY AND BRIBERY

The following is an excerpt from the Department of Justice Website:

“Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
Friday, July 15, 2011
WASHINGTON – The former president of Lee Dynamics International, a defense contractor providing services to the U.S. military in Iraq, pleaded guilty today to an indictment charging him with a scheme to bribe military officials in order to obtain government contracts, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division.
Justin W. Lee, 33, a resident of Philadelphia, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joel H. Slomsky in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and four counts of bribery. Lee and his father, George H. Lee Jr., were charged in an indictment unsealed on May 27, 2011, in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Justin Lee admitted that he conspired with his father and others to bribe military contracting officers in order to obtain government contracts to support U.S. combat operations in Iraq. According to court documents, Justin Lee provided things of value, including cash, airline tickets, meals, hotel stays, spa visits and jobs, which were valued at a total of more than $1.2 million, to public officials in return for official acts which helped him obtain lucrative Department of Defense contracts. The contracts included multi-million dollar contracts for the storage of weapons at various warehouses in Iraq as well as bottled water.
“For Justin Lee and others, bribery was a way of doing business,” said Assistant Attorney General Breuer. “He offered military officials vacations to Thailand and Europe, Rolex watches, cash, and even employment with their company, all in order to secure lucrative defense contracts. Private contractors will not be allowed to win business by stacking the deck against the competition and, as this investigation shows, the military officials who participate in such fraudulent schemes will also be held to account.”
“Justin Lee’s guilty plea is a prime example of the teamwork amongst Special Agents of the Major Procurement Fraud Unit (MPFU), US Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID), our law enforcement partner agencies, and with the DOJ attorneys that comprised the former Kuwait Fraud Task Force,” said James K. Podolak, director of Army CID’s MPFU. “Charged with protecting the Army’s interests with respect to contract fraud and corruption, in a global environment, the MPFU stands ready with Special Agents strategically assigned throughout the U.S. and abroad to bring these criminals to justice.”
“This plea illustrates that it does not matter where they reside, work, or travel, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service will not stop pursuing those individuals who steal funds from the Department of Defense and U.S. Taxpayers” said Robert Craig, Special Agent in Charge for the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Mid-Atlantic Field Office.
“I am pleased that Justin Lee pleaded guilty to the bribery charges filed against him for the abusive and illegal contracting schemes he engineered as a private contractor in Iraq,” said Stuart W. Bowen Jr., Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. “I commend my SIGIR agents and our partners for persevering in this complex case, which is part of perhaps the largest fraud conspiracy yet uncovered in the reconstruction program.”
Four of the military contracting officials with whom Justin Lee conspired have pleaded guilty: John Cockerham Jr., Markus McClain, Kevin A. Davis and Levonda Selph.
Justin Lee faces up to 15 years in prison for each count of bribery, as well as a fine of $250,000 or three times the value of the bribe for each count. He also faces up to five years in prison for the conspiracy count as well as a fine of $250,000.
George Lee, the former chairman and chief executive officer of Lee Dynamics International, remains at large. An indictment is merely a charge and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Substantial assistance has been provided by the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The case is being investigated by the Army Criminal Investigations Division, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, the FBI, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement of the Department of Homeland Security and the Internal Revenue Service.”

CHARGES BROUGHT AGAINST TELECOM EXECS FOR ALLEGED BRIBERY

The case below is an excerpt from the U.S. Department of Justice website:

“Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Florida Telecommunications Company, Two Executives, an Intermediary and Two Former Haitian Government Officials Indicted for Their Alleged Participation in Foreign Bribery Scheme
WASHINGTON - Cinergy Telecommunications Inc., Cinergy’s president and director, the president of Florida-based Telecom Consulting Services Corp. and two former Haitian government officials have been charged in a superseding indictment for their alleged roles in a foreign bribery, wire fraud and money laundering scheme, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Jose A. Gonzalez of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation’s (IRS-CI) Miami Field Office.
According to the superseding indictment, the defendants allegedly participated in a scheme to commit foreign bribery and money laundering from December 2001 through January 2006. The indictment alleges that during this time period Cinergy and its related company, Uniplex Telecommunications Inc., allegedly paid more than $1.4 million to shell companies to be used for bribes to foreign officials of the Republic of Haiti’s state-owned national telecommunications company, Telecommunications D’Haiti (Haiti Teleco).
According to court documents, Cinergy and Uniplex executed a series of contracts with Haiti Teleco that allowed the companies’ customers to place telephone calls to Haiti. The bribe payments allegedly were authorized by Washington Vasconez Cruz, the telecommunications companies’ president, and Amadeus Richers, the companies’ director, and were allegedly paid to Haitian government officials at Haiti Teleco, including Patrick Joseph and Jean Rene Duperval. According to the superseding indictment, the purpose of these bribes was to obtain various business advantages from the Haitian officials for Cinergy and Uniplex, including preferred telecommunications rates and credits toward sums owed. To conceal the bribe payments, the defendants allegedly used various shell companies to receive and forward the payments, including J.D. Locator Services, Fourcand Enterprises and Telecom Consulting Services.
The six defendants charged in the superseding indictment are:
Washington Vasconez Cruz, 63, of Miami, the president of Cinergy and Uniplex, is charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and to commit wire fraud, six counts of FCPA violations, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and 19 counts of money laundering;
Amadeus Richers, 60, of Pembroke Pines, Fla., and Brazil, the then-director of Cinergy and Uniplex, is charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and to commit wire fraud, six counts of FCPA violations, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and 19 counts of money laundering;
Cinergy Telecommunications Inc., a privately-held telecommunications company incorporated in Florida, is charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and to commit wire fraud, six counts of FCPA violations, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and 19 counts of money laundering;
Patrick Joseph, 49, of Miami and Haiti, a former general director for telecommunications at Haiti Teleco, is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering;
Jean Rene Duperval, 44, of Miramar, Fla., and Haiti, a former director of international relations for telecommunications at Haiti Teleco, is charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit money laundering and 19 counts of money laundering; and
Marguerite Grandison, 42, of Miramar, the former president of Telecom Consulting Services Corp., and Duperval’s sister, is charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit money laundering and 19 counts of money laundering.
The superseding indictment also charges Duperval and Grandison with laundering corrupt payments authorized by Joel Esquenazi and Carlos Rodriguez on behalf of another Florida telecommunications company.
Duperval was charged previously in the indictment returned on Dec. 7, 2009, with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and 12 counts of money laundering. Grandison was previously charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and to commit wire fraud, seven counts of FCPA violations, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and 12 counts of money laundering.
Esquenazi and Rodriguez were charged in the initial December 2009 indictment and are unaffected by the superseding indictment. They are scheduled to stand trial on July 18, 2011.
An indictment is merely an accusation, and defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The conspiracy to commit violations of the FCPA and wire fraud count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of the greater of $250,000 or twice the value gained or lost. The FCPA counts each carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of the greater of $100,000 or twice the value gained or lost. The conspiracy to commit money laundering counts each carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of the greater of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction. The money laundering counts each carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of the greater of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction. The superseding indictment also gives notice of criminal forfeiture.
On May 15, 2009, Juan Diaz, the president of J.D. Locator Services, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and money laundering. He admitted to receiving more than $1 million in bribe money from telecommunications companies. On July 30, 2010, he was sentenced to 57 months in prison.
On Feb. 19, 2010, Jean Fourcand, the president and director of Fourcand Enterprises Inc., pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering for receiving and transmitting bribe monies in the scheme. On May 5, 2010, he was sentenced to six months in prison.
On March 12, 2010, Robert Antoine, the former director of international affairs for Haiti Telco, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. He admitted to receiving more than $1 million in bribes from Miami-based telecommunications companies. On June 2, 2010, he was sentenced to 48 months in prison.
The government’s investigation is ongoing. The Department of Justice is grateful to the government of Haiti for continuing to provide substantial assistance in gathering evidence during this investigation. In particular, Haiti’s financial intelligence unit, the Unité Centrale de Renseignements Financiers (UCREF), the Bureau des Affaires Financières et Economiques (BAFE), which is a specialized component of the Haitian National Police, and the Ministry of Justice and Public Security provided significant cooperation and coordination in this ongoing investigation.
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorneys Nicola J. Mrazek and James M. Koukios of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, with the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. The Office of International Affairs in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division also provided assistance in this matter. The cases were investigated by the IRS-CI Miami Field Office.
11-910
Criminal Division”