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The Other Shoe Drops On TechnipFMC As The SEC Announces A $5 Million Enforcement Action

By on September 24, 2019 in 2019 Enforcement Actions, Iraq, Oil and Gas Industry, SEC Enforcement Action, TechnipFMC, Third Parties
othershoe

The SEC’s fiscal year ends on September 30th. Thus, it is likely that many loose ends are being closed this week and, with history as a guide, there is likely to be more FCPA enforcement actions this week.

Most FCPA enforcement actions against issuers that include a DOJ and SEC component are resolved on the same day. However, as noted in prior posts here and here concerning the DOJ’s net $81.9 million FCPA enforcement action against TechnipFMC in June 2019, the SEC prong of the enforcement action was left open.

This loose end was closed yesterday as the SEC announced an approximate $5 million enforcement action against the company “for violations of the FCPA by FMC Technologies prior to its 2017 merger with Technip S.A.”

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The Case That Just Keeps On Giving – DOJ Announces Additional Charges In PDVSA Bribery Action Against Employees Of Swiss Wealth Management Firm – Previously Charged FCPA Defendant Files Motion To Dismiss

By on September 18, 2019 in 2019 Enforcement Actions, DOJ Enforcement Action, Foreign Nationals, Individual Enforcement Action, Jurisdiction, Nervis Gerardo Villalobos Cardenas, PDVSA, Venezuela
PDVSA

Several prior posts (see here, here, here and here for instance) have highlighted the clustering phenomenon and how a few discreet instances of alleged bribery yield an inordinate amount of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement activity against individuals.

One such example is the DOJ’s long-standing enforcement action (charges were first brought in late 2015) in connection with alleged corrupt schemes to secure contracts from Venezuela’s state-owned and state-controlled energy company, PDVSA.

In this recently unsealed indictment, Nervis Villalobos Cardenas (a citizen of Venezuela), Daisy Rafoi Bleuler (a citizen of Switzerland and partner in a Swiss Wealth Management firm), and Paulo Caqueiro Murta (a citizen of Portugal and Switzerland and employee in a Swiss Management firm) were charged with conspiracy to violate the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions as well as other offenses. In the indictment, various former employees of PDVSA entities (alleged to be “foreign officials”) were also charged with money laundering offenses. As highlighted in this prior post, Villalobos was previously charged with FCPA and related offenses in early 2018.

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SEC Brings Another Enforcement Action Against A Former Cognizant Executive

By on September 16, 2019 in 2019 Enforcement Actions, Executive Enforcement Action, India, Individual Enforcement Action, Permits / Licenses / Customs / Tax, SEC Enforcement Action
Thiruvengadam

Approximately 90% of SEC corporate FCPA enforcement actions in recent years have lacked any related charges against company employees.

A bit unusual then that the February 2019 enforcement action against Cognizant Technology Solutions (see here) has resulted in not one, not two, but three individual enforcement actions as last Friday the SEC announced an administrative action against Sridhar Thiruvengadam (pictured – an Indian national and resident who previously served as Cognizant’s Chief Operating Officer).

Unlike the two prior individuals charged by the SEC and DOJ (Gordon Coburn and Steven Schwartz) who appear to be putting the government to its burden of proof, Thiruvengadam, without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, agreed to pay a $50,000 civil penalty in an enforcement action that lacked any U.S. jurisdictional allegation other than that Thiruvengadam participated in a video conference from India with certain executives who participated in the video conference from the U.S.

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Individual Pleads Guilty To FCPA And Related Offenses In Connection With Uganda Adoption Scheme

By on September 3, 2019 in 2019 Enforcement Actions, Adoption, DOJ Enforcement Action, Individual Enforcement Action, Robin Longoria, Uganda
UgandaAdoption

In a fact pattern believed to be a first in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act history, last week the DOJ announced that Robin Longoria (an individual who managed aspects of an international program at an Ohio-based adoption agency) pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to violate the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions and to commit wire fraud and visa fraud “for her role in a scheme to corruptly facilitate adoptions of Ugandan children through bribing Ugandan officials and defrauding U.S. adoptive parents and the U.S. Department of State.”

According to this media report, the adoption agency is now defunct European Adoption Consultants.

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Six Years After Juniper Networks Disclosed FCPA Scrutiny, It Resolves A $11.7 Million Joke Of An Enforcement Action Based On Russia And China Subsidiary Conduct

By on August 30, 2019 in 2019 Enforcement Actions, China, Customer Discounts, Juniper Networks, Russia, SEC Enforcement Action, Technology Industry, Travel and Entertainment
junipernetworks

As highlighted in this previous post, in mid-2013 Juniper Networks disclosed that it was under FCPA scrutiny. Over six years later, the SEC announced yesterday that the company agreed to pay approximately $11.7 million to resolve the scrutiny.

As highlighted below, the enforcement action was based on the conduct of Russia and China subsidiary employees. In Russia, certain sales employees of the Russian representative office of Juniper’s subsidiary secretly agreed with third party channel partners to provide discounts to customers that were parked in off-book funds some of which were used to pay for customer trips, including trips for government officials, some of which were predominately leisure in nature. In China, certain sales employees of Juniper’s Chinese subsidiaries falsified trip and meeting agendas for customer events in seeking approval from Juniper’s Legal Department.

Based on the conduct alleged in the enforcement action (which is beyond any conceivable statute of limitations) as well as actual FCPA legal authority, the enforcement action is a $11.7 million joke.

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