Freepoint Commodities Resolves FCPA Enforcement Action
In February 2023, the DOJ announced that Glenn Oztemel (previously employed by Freepoint Commodities LLC) and Eduardo Innecco (an agent for the company) were charged with FCPA and related offenses for an alleged Brazil bribery scheme. (See here for the prior post).
In summary fashion, the indictment alleged:
“Between in or about 2010 and continuing until in or about 2018, Glenn Oztemel and Eduardo Innecco, together and with others, agreed to pay, and did pay, bribes to foreign officials at Brazil’s state-owned and state-controlled oil and gas company, Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petro bras (“Petrobras”), on behalf of Trading Company #1 and Trading Company #2. In exchange for the bribes, foreign officials at Petrobras, including Rodrigo Berkowitz (“Berkowitz”), who has been charged separately, provided Oztemel, Innecco and others with confidential information related to Petrobras’s business. The inside information and other improper assistance Berkowitz provided to Oztemel, Innecco and others gave Trading Company #1 and Trading Company #2 improper business advantages in trades with Petrobras.
Taking A Helicopter To A L.A. Lakers Game
In June 2023, the DOJ announced an enforcement action against Amadou Kane Diallo (pictured – a Senegalese national and California resident who was the CEO of two California-based companies: Virtual Advisors LLC and Liquide Inc).
As stated in the DOJ release:
“Diallo allegedly solicited investments in his companies from at least 11 individuals for purported business opportunities in technology, health care, real estate, home ownership, and service to the African diaspora. Diallo allegedly made various false representations, including that investor funds would be spent to further investors’ interests, or not be spent at all, and instead used as “skin in the game” to attract institutional investors. Diallo is also alleged to have lied to potential investors, claiming that he had raised hundreds of millions of dollars for another investment firm and its real estate investment fund when, in fact, he had never raised any such funds.
Yet Additional FCPA Enforcement Actions Concerning Ecuador’s Seguros Sucre
From time to time, there are certain Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement actions in which the core allegations just seem to “keep on giving” and spawn several related enforcement actions.
A prime example were the many FCPA (and related) enforcement actions involving Haiti Teleco from approximately ten years ago (see here) and the many recent enforcement actions concerning Venezuela’s PDVSA.
Enforcement actions concerning Ecuador’s Seguros Sucre S.A. (“Seguros Sucre”), an alleged state-owned insurance company and “instrumentality” of the Ecuadorian government, are beginning to add up as well. In 2022 U.K.-based reinsurance broker, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group Holdings Ltd. (JLT) resolved a $29 million FCPA enforcement action (see here for the prior post) and eight individuals have been criminally charged (and several have pleaded guilty) in connection with the same underlying conduct.
The latest enforcement action was yesterday’s announcement by the DOJ that Tysers Insurance Brokers Limited (Tysers – formerly known and doing business during the relevant time period as Integro Insurance Brokers Limited an international reinsurance broker based in the United Kingdom) and H.W. Wood Limited (an international reinsurance broker based in the United Kingdom) resolved a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action for “participation in a corrupt scheme to pay bribes to Ecuadorian government officials.”
The net settlement amount in the Tysers enforcement action is $46.5 million and the net settlement amount in the H.W. Wood enforcement action is $508,000 based on inability to pay.
Lifecore Resolves FCPA Enforcement Action Regarding Wastewater Issues In Mexico
Yesterday, the DOJ released this so-called “declination with disgorgement” letter regarding Lifecore Biomedical, Inc. (f/k/a Landec Corporation) in connection with alleged Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations involving wastewater issues in Mexico.
Pursuant to the letter agreement, Lifecore agreed to “disgorge” $406,505 in “costs avoided” (which of course is an interesting spin on disgorgement which is traditionally understood to mean relinquishment of unjust gains).
The letter agreement states in full:
Chemical Company Albemarle Resolves A Net $218.4 Million Enforcement Action
As highlighted in this prior post, in February 2018 Albemarle Corp. (a North Carolina based chemical company) disclosed Foreign Corrupt Practices Act scrutiny.
More than 5.5 years later, the DOJ and SEC announced a net $218.4 million FCPA enforcement action against the company.
The resolution included a DOJ non-prosecution agreement (pursuant to which the company agreed to pay a $98.2 million criminal penalty and $16.6 million in forfeiture) and an SEC administrative order (pursuant to which the company agreed to pay approximately $103.6 million in disgorgement and prejudgment interest).