A Closer Look At The Comcel Enforcement Action
This previous post briefly highlighted the FCPA enforcement action against Comunicaciones Celulares S.A. (“Comcel”), a subsidiary of Millicom International Cellular, S.A. (“Millicom” – a telecommunications company incorporated and headquartered in Luxembourg with its principal place of business in Florida).
This post takes a closer look at the $118.2 million enforcement action.
In terms of background, Comcel was doing business as TIGO Guatemala and was a mobile and fixed telecommunications service provider with its principal place of business in Guatemala. During the relevant period, TIGO Guatemala was jointly owned by Millicom (55%) and a Panamanian company (“Panama Company” (45%) (Telecomunicaciones Digitales, S.A. (Cable Onda or Tigo Panama).
On or about November 12, 2021 , Millicom purchased Panama Company’s share of TIGO Guatemala for approximately $2.2 billion. Since then, TIGO Guatemala has been wholly-owned by Millicom.
DOJ Alleges Mexican Bribery Scheme Involving PEMEX
Earlier this week the DOJ announced a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action concerning an alleged bribery scheme in Mexico.
The indictment charges Ramon Alexandro Rovirosa Martinez (a citizen of Mexico and a lawful permanent resident of Texas) and Mario Alberto Avila Lizarraga (a citizen of Mexico and lawful permanent resident of Texas) for their roles in an alleged bribery scheme to retain and obtain business related to Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX), the state-owned oil company of Mexico, and PEMEX Exploración y Producción (PEP), PEMEX’s wholly owned exploration and production subsidiary.
Rovirosa and Avila are associated with various Mexican companies that operated in the oil and gas industry. (See here).
Checking In On The Pinate Matter
As highlighted in this prior post, in August 2024 the DOJ announced that a “federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida returned an indictment … charging three executives of an election voting machine and service provider company and a former Chairman of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) of the Republic of the Philippines for their roles in an alleged bribery and money laundering scheme to retain and obtain business related to the 2016 Philippine elections. […] These bribes were allegedly paid to obtain and retain business related to providing voting machines and election services for the 2016 Philippine elections and to secure payments on the contracts, including the release of value added tax payments.”
Although not mentioned in the indictment, the company at issue is Smartmatic (and related entities).
The individuals charged with Foreign Corrupt Practices Act offenses were:
Pizza At The Panama Canal
From time to time, an issue appears in the news which demonstrates how some conflate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the actual statute) and how the FCPA is enforced by the DOJ / SEC.
For instance, as highlighted here, Louis Sola (the newly appointed head of the Federal Maritime Commission) recently commented how China has an unfair advantage at the Panama Canal compared with U.S. companies. Among other things, Sola noted that corruption remains the biggest problem in Panama and he stated:
“I believe the Chinese have a better ability to discuss a lot of these things with their Panamanian counterparts than the United States do. What I mean by that is U.S. companies are hindered drastically by the Foreign Corruption Practice Act. So if the lights go out and I have to call somebody at 12 o’clock at night to come over and turn on my terminal; I cannot buy that person pizza under the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act. We definitely have to ease some of our regulations so that we’re able to able to compete internationally.”
Issues To Consider From The BIT Mining (500.com) Enforcement Action
This prior post highlighted the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action against BIT Mining Ltd. (formerly known as 500.com) in connection with a failed Japan bribery scheme concerning efforts to obtain a license to operate a casino.
This post highlights additional issues to consider.
Japan
The enforcement action is believed to be the first in FCPA history concerning conduct in Japan.
Take away point. While certain countries have a higher bribery and corruption risk than others, bribery and corruption issues can arise in any country.
FCPA enforcement actions have involved conduct in approximately 90 countries including perceived low risk countries such Canada, United Kingdom, Netherlands, France and Germany.