A Focus On Vietnam
Set forth below are the general details of fifteen FCPA enforcement actions (all since 2008) which have involved (in whole or in part) conduct in Vietnam.
The enforcement action concerned conduct in China, India, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam.
As to Vietnam, the allegations stated that: “Albemarle corruptly obtained contracts at two state-owned oil refineries in Vietnam through the use of an intermediary sales agent who requested increased commissions to pay bribes to PetroVietnam and refinery officials and to structure tender requirements to favor Albemarle. […] In 2016, Albemarle also used Vietnam Intermediary Company and its connections to PetroVietnam officials to corruptly obtain business at another state-owned refinery in Vietnam, Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemicals LLC (“NSRP”). NSRP was owned by a joint venture that included, among others, PetroVietnam and Kuwait Petroleum International, also a state-owned entity.”
A Focus On Thailand
This post highlights FCPA enforcement actions concerning conduct (in whole or in part) in Thailand.
Since 2004, there have been fourteen FCPA enforcement actions concerning conduct (in whole or in part) in Thailand.
The enforcement action concerned conduct in Thailand based on the conduct of a subsidiary in Thailand and largely focused on Thai officials visiting massage parlors and participating in non-business travel funded by the subsidiary.
Former DOJ Compliance Counsel Now Says That Corporations And Individuals “Can Fight The Government In Its Investigation”
One of the interesting things about writing about the FCPA and related issues on a daily basis for over 15 years is the frequency in which I come across content of former DOJ/SEC enforcement officials saying things in conflict with positions they articulated while at the government. (See here for a prior post).
Hui Chen was “the first-ever Compliance Counsel Expert at the United States Department of Justice, Hui was the exclusive consultant to the federal prosecutors in the Fraud Section, evaluating corporate ethics and compliance programs in areas such as anti-fraud, anti-bribery/kickback, healthcare, quality control, manipulation of financial markets, process safety, and environmental protection. She is the author of the Fraud Section’s well known “Evaluation of Corporate Compliance,” which has been widely praised by compliance practitioners and recognized by government regulators and standard setters around the world.” (See here).
During Chen’s time at the DOJ, the message from the DOJ (as it has long been before and after her tenure) was always disclose and cooperate.
Ferrera To Challenge “Foreign Official” Enforcement Theory
In March 2026, the DOJ criminally charged David Ferrera and Marc Tilman with FCPA and related offenses in connection with an alleged bribery scheme involving an employee of Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Reims (CHU Reims) in France. (See here for the prior post).
According to the DOJ: “CHU Reims was wholly owned and controlled by the government of France and performed a function that France treated as its own. CHU Reims was an “instrumentality” of a foreign government, and CHU Reims’s officers and employees were “foreign officials,” as those terms are used in the FCPA …”.
The prior post noted that the DOJ enforcement theory that employees (such as physicians, nurses, mid-wives, lab personnel, etc.) of certain foreign health care systems can “foreign officials” under the FCPA – and thus occupy a status akin to a President or Prime Minister – was dubious.
The Back And Forth Continues
Silly?
Warranted?
Somewhere in between?
Who knows.
But the back and forth between the DOJ and Judge Nicholas Garaufis (E.D.N.Y.) in connection with the DOJ’s consent motion to dismiss in US v. Adani et al continues.
Earlier this week, Judge Garaufis granted the DOJ’s motion to dismiss fraud charges against certain defendants (even though he disagreed with the vast majority of the DOJ’s positions), while at the same time rejecting the DOJ’s motion to dismiss FCPA and obstruction charges against certain other defendants. (See here for the prior post).