FCPA Enforcement And The “C” Word – Part II
FCPA Inc. has always been an active group of writers who often use any little nugget of information to market FCPA practices.
So it is with the recent Scoular Company FCPA enforcement action.
Even though it was a “garden variety” enforcement action (a company doing business in a foreign country had a point of contact with a “foreign official” in connection with some regulatory aspect of its business and a bribe was allegedly paid), some are asserting that the enforcement action is evidence of the DOJ’s focus on cartel activity.
Here are the facts.
FCPA Enforcement And The “C” Word
The recent Scoular Company FCPA enforcement action was a “garden variety” enforcement action.
A company doing business in a foreign country had a point of contact with a “foreign official” in connection with some regulatory aspect of its business and a bribe was allegedly paid.
FCPA enforcement actions in connection with licenses, permits, inspections, customs, or other regulatory issues are very common including prior enforcement actions involving Mexico.
For instance, in 2023 Lifecore resolved an FCPA enforcement action in connection with wastewater discharge permits in Mexico.
Scoular Resolves $10.2 Million FCPA Enforcement Action
In 2025, Carlos Leopoldo Alvelais pleaded guilty to a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act offense of some sort in the Western District of Texas. (See here for the prior post).
The facts and circumstances of the enforcement action were unclear as much of the substantive court docket was and remains under seal.
However, last Friday the DOJ announced that “The Scoular Company (Scoular), an agricultural supply chain company based in Omaha, Nebraska, will pay over $10 million to resolve an investigation by the Justice Department into a years-long scheme in which it relied on bribery of Mexican officials to deliver trains of goods across the U.S.-Mexico border.”
According to the DOJ release, Carlos Leopoldo Alvelais was a customs broker who paid bribes on behalf of Scoular.
About The Individuals Mentioned In The Comcel Enforcement Action
This prior post went in-depth into the recent $118.2 million FCPA enforcement action against Comcel (doing business as TIGO Guatemala – a mobile and fixed telecommunications service provider with its principal place of business in Guatemala).
There are two specific individuals mentioned in the DOJ charging documents: Acisclo Valladares Urruela (“Valladares” pictured) (a citizen of Guatemala and TIGO Guatemala’s Chief Corporate Affairs Officer and Head of Legal in or around and between 2008 and 2015 and again serving as Chief Corporate Affairs Officer in or around 2017) and Alvaro Estuardo Cobar Bustamante (“Cobar”) [a Guatemalan citizen and director of a Guatemalan bank] who facilitated the bribery scheme by providing Valladares with cash in order to pay bribes to Guatemalan officials and reimbursements for bribes TIGO Guatemala executives had already paid.
Kodiak Gas Services Discloses “Potential Compliance Issues”
Kodiak Gas Services is a provider of natural gas contract compression services.
In late 2023, Kodiak announced its intent to acquire CSI Compressco LP whose customers included various business in several foreign countries including Mexico, Canada, Argentina, and Chile.
Kodiak recently disclosed:
“In the first quarter of 2025, the Company received a report regarding certain payments to local government officials in Mexico that commenced prior to the Company’s acquisition of its Mexican affiliate in connection with the April 1, 2024 CSI Acquisition that may present potential compliance issues under U.S. law.”