Colombian Entities Resolve Net $60.6 Million FCPA Enforcement Action
Once upon a time, a Colombian company (owned and controlled by another Colombian company with shares registered in the U.S.), through a wholly-owned and controlled subsidiary, agreed with a Brazilian company to form a joint venture and consortium to bid for public contracts with the Colombian government.
An executive of the Brazilian company informed an executive of the Colombian company that a Colombian lobbyist would help win projects by making bribe payments to Colombian officials and the Colombian company executive agreed.
That, in a nutshell, describes last week’s net $60.6 million Foreign Corrupt Practice Act enforcement action against Corporacion Financiera Colombiana S.A. (Corficolombiana) and Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores S.A. (Grupo Aval).
The enforcement action involved a DOJ component (in which the entities agreed to pay a net $20.3 million criminal penalty) and an SEC component (in which the entities agreed to pay approximately $40.3 million in disgorgement and prejudgment interest).
Gartner Resolves $2.5 Million Enforcement Action
Late last Friday afternoon on a holiday weekend, the SEC released one of the more pedestrian FCPA enforcement actions of recent memory.
The action involved Gartner Inc. (a technological research and consulting company) concerning conduct in 2014 and 2015 in South Africa.
To resolve the matter, Gartner agreed to pay approximately $2.5 million (856,764 in disgorgement and prejudgment interest and a $1.6 million civil penalty).
In summary fashion, this administrative order states:
Philips Joins The Corporate FCPA Repeat Offender Club
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act corporate repeat offender club is getting so large, that it really is not all that exclusive.
In 2013, Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (“Philips”), a Netherlands-based company with shares listed on the New York Stock Exchange, resolved a $4.5 million FCPA enforcement action concerning conduct in Poland. (See here for the prior post).
In resolving the matter, Philips consented to entry of the Order prohibiting future FCPA violations.
Yesterday, the SEC announced that Philips agreed to pay “more than $62 million to resolve charges that it violated the FCPA” with respect to conduct related to its sales of medical diagnostic equipment in China.”
Frank’s International Resolves $8 Million FCPA Enforcement Action
The SEC has announced that Frank’s International N.V., (a Dutch oilfield services provider) now known as Expro Group Holdings N.V., has resolved an approximate $8 million Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action.
The conduct at issue based focuses on Angola and occurred between 2008 and 2014 (in other words approximately 10-15 years ago).
This administrative order finds in summary fashion:
Bankman-Fried Charged With FCPA Offense
In December 2022, the Department of Justice announced criminal charges against Samuel Bankman-Fried arising from an “alleged wide-ranging scheme by [him] to misappropriate billions of dollars of customer funds deposited with FTX, the international cryptocurrency exchange [he] founded …, and mislead investors and lenders to FTX and to Alameda Research, the cryptocurrency hedge fund [he] also founded.”
Specifically, Bankman-Friend was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to defraud the Federal Election Commission and commit campaign finance violations.
Yesterday, the DOJ filed a superseding indictment adding a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act conspiracy charge to the criminal charges Bankman-Fried is facing.