Earlier this month, the DOJ filed criminal charges against David Ferrera and Marc Tilman in connection with an alleged bribery scheme involving an alleged “foreign official” at Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Reims, an alleged French state-owned and state-controlled public university hospital. (See here for the prior post).
Today, the DOJ returned to the same core allegations in announcing a $1.2 million Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action against Balt SAS (a medical device company headquartered in France). As stated in the DOJ release, Ferrera was an executive at Balt’s U.S. subsidiary and Tillman was hired by Balt’s U.S. subsidiary as a consultant.
Balt joins approximately 35 other companies not to contest the dubious FCPA enforcement theory that employees of certain foreign health care systems are “foreign officials” under the FCPA and thus occupy a status akin to a President or Prime Minister.
Time will tell if Ferrera and/or Tillman contest this enforcement theory as the previous post noted that the matter is believed to be the first DOJ individual FCPA enforcement action based on this theory.
This March 17th so-called declination with disgorgement letter to Balt’s counsel (Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton) states in pertinent part:
“The Government’s investigation found evidence that from in or around 2017 until in or around 2023, Balt paid bribes totaling approximately $602,000 to a physician, who served in a senior role at a state-owned public hospital in France, to obtain or retain business with the hospital. By virtue of his position at the state-owned public hospital, the physician (the “Official”) was a “foreign official” as defined by the FCPA. Balt paid the bribes to the Official through a third-party consultant in Belgium, in order for the Official to cause the hospital to purchase medical devices from Balt – specifically, endovascular embolization coils and, in certain instances, ancillary products. Balt, through certain employees and agents, took steps to conceal the true nature of the payments to the third-party consultant, including by approving fake invoices and purported “bonus” payments. In total, the bribery scheme resulted in revenue of approximately $1,683,215 and profits of approximately $1,214,797.”
The DOJ letter further states:
“The Government has decided to decline prosecution of Balt based on an assessment of the factors set forth in the CEP, as revised on March 10, 2026, and the Principles of Federal Prosecution of Business Organizations (Justice Manual 9-28-300), including, but not limited to: (1) Balt’s timely and voluntary self-disclosure of the misconduct to the Fraud Section, which misconduct was identified during an internal investigation that was ongoing at the time of the disclosure; (2) Balt’s full and proactive cooperation in this matter (including its provisions of all known relevant facts of the misconduct and information regarding the individuals involved) and its agreement to continue to cooperate with any ongoing Government investigations and any prosecutions that have resulted or might result in the future; (3) the nature and seriousness of the offense; (4) Balt’s timely and appropriate remediation, including disciplinary action against relevant individuals, termination of the business relationships that gave rise to the misconduct, tailored compliance training for Balt senior management, and improvements to its compliance program and internal controls; (5) the absence of aggravating circumstances that, when weighed against Balt’s voluntary self-disclosure, cooperation, and remediation, would warrant a disposition other than a resolution under Part I of the CEP; (6) that Balt has accepted responsibility for the criminal conduct and will enter into a parallel resolution with authorities in France, which resolution will include corporate compliance requirements imposed under the French system; and (7) that Balt agrees to disgorge the amount of its ill-gotten gains.”
In the DOJ’s release, Assistant Attorney General Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division stated:
“[This] resolution – the first ever under the Department-wide Corporate Enforcement Policy – demonstrates the value of voluntarily self reporting wrongdoing to the Department of Justice. This corporate resolution, which is coordinated with our foreign partners at the PNF in France, credits Balt’s self-report to the Department as well as its full cooperation and timely remediation. Our related indictment of two individuals associated with Balt demonstrates the Criminal Division’s unwavering pursuit of culpable individuals that engage in corrupt conduct.”
In the release, Assistant Director in Charge Darren Cox of the FBI Washington Field Office stated:
“Ferrera and Tilman allegedly conspired to pay bribes to a French physician, who in turn caused a hospital in France to purchase medical devices from their company. Let their indictment serve as a testament to the FBI’s long reach. When corruption extends beyond our borders, the FBI works with our international partners to bring individuals to justice.”
