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Owner Of Hawaii-Based Engineering And Consulting Company Pleads Guilty To Bribing Micronesian (And Hawaiian) Officials

By on February 4, 2019 in 2019 Enforcement Actions, DOJ Enforcement Action, Engineering and Construction Industry, Engineering Industry, James Lyon, Lyon Associates
lyons

Recently, the DOJ filed this criminal information against Frank James Lyon, the owner of Lyon Associates Inc. (a privately-held engineering and consulting company headquartered in Hawaii).

The information, to which Lyon subsequently pleaded guilty, charges him with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (based on things of value provided to officials in the Federated States of Micronesia – FSM) as well as paying bribes to an agent of an organization receiving federal funds (based on things of value provided to officials with a Hawaii governmental agency – State Agency).

As highlighted below, the Lyon action is interesting on several levels.

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DOJ Quietly Releases Another “Declination With Disgorgement” – This One $4 Million Regarding CDM Smith Inc.

By on June 30, 2017 in 2017 Enforcement Actions, CDM Smith, DOJ Enforcement Action, DOJ FCPA “Pilot Program”, Engineering and Construction Industry, Engineering Industry, India, Third Parties, Vietnam, World Bank
cdmsmith

Those who were predicting that FCPA enforcement would wane in a Trump administration were encouraged to take a deep breath. (See here for the prior post). Among other things, it was noted that “if you believe that FCPA enforcement will decline in a Trump administration then you presumably must think that the DOJ and the SEC will start refusing to “process” corporate voluntary disclosures” (the single largest source of corporate FCPA enforcement actions).

Here is a fact to contemplate. The number of DOJ corporate FCPA enforcement actions in the first five months of the Trump administration (2 – both originating from corporate voluntary disclosures) equals the number of DOJ corporate FCPA enforcement actions in 2015 (2).

Yesterday, the DOJ once again quietly updated its FCPA Pilot Program “declinations” page to release this June 21st letter agreement addressed to Nathaniel Edmonds (Paul Hastings) counsel for CDM Smith Inc. (“CDM Smith”), a privately held engineering and construction firm incorporated and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

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Louis Berger International And Two Former Employees Resolve Enforcement Action

By on July 20, 2015 in 2015 Enforcement Actions, DOJ Enforcement Action, Engineering and Construction Industry, India, Individual Enforcement Action, Indonesia, James McClung, Kuwait, Louis Berger International, Monitor, Richard Hirsch, Vietnam
LB

Last Friday, the DOJ announced the second corporate Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action of 2015.

It was against Louis Berger International Inc. (LBI, a New Jersey-based infrastructure and development company) and focused on the conduct of two former employees (one located in the Philippines, the other located in India) that allegedly occurred approximately 5 – 17 years ago in connection with projects in Indonesia, Vietnam, India and Kuwait.

The former employees are described as:

  • Richard Hirsch was a high-level executive at the Company, located in the Philippines, who at times oversaw the Company’s overseas operations in, inter alia, Indonesia and Vietnam.
  • James McClung was a high-level executive at the Company, located in India, who at times oversaw the Company’s overseas operations in Vietnam and India.

According to the DOJ, LBI directly and indirectly made payments totaling approximately $3.9 million to foreign government officials in India, Indonesia, Kuwait, Vietnam and elsewhere. To resolve the enforcement action, LBI agreed to pay $17.1 million pursuant to a deferred prosecution agreement and to engage a compliance monitor for a three year period.

Criminal Complaint

The criminal complaint charges LBI with conspiracy to violate the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions.

According to the criminal compliant, the purpose of the conspiracy “was to make and conceal corrupt payments to foreign officials in India, Indonesia, Kuwait, Vietnam and elsewhere in order to obtain and retain contracts with government entities in those countries and, thus, to enrich the Company and the co-conspirators with the full economic benefits anticipated from such contracts.” In addition, the criminal complaint alleges that “terms like ‘commitment fee,’ ‘counterpart per diem,’ ‘marketing fee,’ and ‘field operation expenses’ [were used] as code words to conceal the true nature of the bribe payments” and that “cash disbursement forms and invoices [were utilized] which did not truthfully describe the services provided or the purpose of the payment.” Moreover, the complaint alleges that members of the conspiracy created “ostensibly legitimate but ultimately illicit accounts, or “slush funds,” for the payment of bribes through third parties.”

Deferred Prosecution Agreement

The criminal charges were resolved via a deferred prosecution agreement.

The Statement of Facts in the DPA state, under the heading “Overview of the Bribery Scheme” as follows.

“From in or about 1998 until in or about 2010, the Company, through its employees and agents, engaged in a scheme to pay bribes to various foreign officials in Indonesia, Vietnam, India and Kuwait to secure contracts with government agencies and instrumentalities in those countries on behalf of the Company and its subsidiaries and affiliates.  The Company, through its employees and agents, together with others, discussed making the bribe payments to the foreign officials and the ways in which they intended to conceal the corrupt payments.  For example, the Company, through its employees and agents, together with others, used terms like ‘commitment fee,’ ‘counterpart per diem,’ ‘marketing fee’ and ‘field operation expenses’ as code words to conceal the true nature of the bribe payments and utilized cash disbursement forms and invoices which did not truthfully describe the services provided or the purpose of the payment.

In order to effectuate the payments, the Company, through its employees and agents, utilized various methods.  In many instances, employees and agents of the Company submitted inflated and fictitious invoices to generate cash that was then used later for the payment of bribes through intermediaries.  The Company, through its employees and agents, would then wire certain funds from bank accounts of the Company in New Jersey to bank accounts in various other countries for the purpose of making payments to foreign officials.  In Vietnam, the Company, through its employees and agents, used the Foundation – which was in part a local labor pool – as a conduit for the payment of bribes to foreign government officials in Vietnam to conceal the bribe payments.

In total, the Company, through its employees and agents, together with others, made payments directly and indirectly to foreign officials, including in Indonesia, Vietnam, India and Kuwait, totaling approximately $3,934,431.”

Under the heading “Corrupt Conduct in Indonesia,” the DPA states that “beginning in approximately 2005, the Company sought contracts with the Indonesian government as a subcontractor by interposing a one-man consulting company as the prime contractor in order to avoid directly paying bribes to foreign officials even though the Company was well aware that the prime contractor was paying bribes.”  According to the DPA, in 2008 “when the law firm handling the Company’s internal review directed scrutiny [at a citizen and national of Indonesia employed by the Company in Jakarta] Richard Hirsch and others attempted to discourage [the employee] from speaking with the Company’s review team.” According to the DPA, Hirsch also communicated with co-conspirators on his personal e-mail account to avoid detection by the company.

Under the heading “Corrupt Conduct in Vietnam,” the DPA states that “the Company began its operations in Vietnam during the early 1990s and secured numerous public contracts across the county.  In order to obtain and maintain these contracts, the Company through its employees and agents paid bribes to Vietnamese officials through the Foundation [a non-governmental organization which the Company engaged as a local sponsor, and which served as a key source for local labor and operational support in Vietnam.]  Sometimes the bribe money was disguised as ‘donations’ to the Foundation paid from the Company’s bank accounts in New Jersey to a bank account jointly held by the Company and the Foundation in Vietnam.  On other occasions the bribe money was masked by invoices from the Foundation that were paid from the Company’s New Jersey account to a joint account.”  The DPA further states that beginning in “approximately 2005, when James McClung assumed responsibility for the Company’s Vietnam operations, the Company through its employees and agents generated bribe money by paying vendors for services that had never actually been rendered; those vendors would then serve as conduits for the payment of bribe money to foreign officials.”

Under the heading “Corrupt Conduct in India,” the DPA states: “Along with several consortium partners, the Company won two water development projects in Goa and Guwhati.  The Company paid bribes to win both of those contracts.  The bribe money was disguised as payments to vendors for services that had never actually been rendered.  The Company through its employees and agents and its consortium partner kept track of the bribe payments by circulating a spreadsheet amongst themselves showing the proportionate share of each bribe that they had paid to the foreign officials overseeing their work on the Goa and Guwhati projects.”

Under the heading “Corrupt Conduct in Kuwait,” the DPA states: “In approximately 2005, the Company won a $66 million road construction project with the Kuwait Ministry of Public Works.  In order to secure that contract, the Company through its employees and agents and its joint venture partner made a series of corrupt payments [totaling approximately $71,000) to an official with the Ministry of Public Works.  Some of the payments were made upfront under the guise of ‘proposal’ costs.  Other payments were made through a purported contract for ‘business development’ with another firm.”

In the 3-year DPA, LBI admitted, accepted and acknowledged responsibility for the conduct as described above.

Under the heading “relevant considerations,” the DPA states:

“[The DOJ enters] into this Agreement based on the individual facts and circumstances presented by this case and by LBI … Among the factors considered were the following:  (a) after the government had made LBI … aware of a False Claim Act investigation, [the Company] conducted an internal investigation, discovered potential FCPA violations, and voluntarily self-reported to the [DOJ] the misconduct …; (b) [the Company’s] cooperation, including conducting an extensive internal investigation, voluntarily making U.S. and foreign employees available for interviews, collecting analyzing, and organizing voluminous evidence and information for [the DOJ] and providing updates to the [DOJ] as the conduct and results of the internal investigation; (c) [the Company] has engaged in extensive remediation, including terminating the employment of officers and employees responsible for the corrupt payments, enhancing its due diligence protocol for third-party agents and consultants, and instituting heightened review of proposals and other transactional documents for all Company contracts; (d) [the Company’s] improvements to date to its compliance program and internal controls, as well as its commitment to continue to enhance its compliance program and internal controls, including ensuring that its compliance program satisfies the minimum elements [set forth in the DPA]; (e) the nature and scope of the offense conduct; and (f) [the Company’s] agreement to continue to cooperate [with the DOJ] in any ongoing investigation.”

The Sentencing Guidelines calculation in the DPA sets forth an advisory fine range of $17.1 million – $34.2 million. The DPA states that the ultimate $17.1 million fine “is appropriate given the facts and circumstances of this case, including the cooperation in this matter and the nature and scope of the offense conduct.”  As indicated in the DPA, $7.1 million of the fine amount is payable immediately with the remaining amount payable within 12 months.

Pursuant to the DPA, LBI is required to retain an independent compliance monitor for a three year period.

Typical of most corporate FCPA enforcement actions, the DPA contains a “muzzle clause” in which LBI agreed that it shall not directly or indirectly make any public statement contradicting the information set forth in the DPA.

As noted in the DOJ’s release, Hirsch (61, of Makaati, Philippines) and McClung (59, of Dubai, United Arab Emirates) each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and one substantive count of violating the FCPA. The sentencing hearings for Hirsch and McClung are scheduled for Nov. 5, 2015.

Louis Berger issued this release which states:

“Louis Berger International, has agreed to a three-year deferred prosecution agreement and $17.1 million fine with the U.S. Department of Justice for self-reported improper business activities principally conducted overseas by former managers between 1998 and 2010. All of the managers associated with these improper business activities were separated from the company following the early findings of Louis Berger’s internal investigations.

“The DOJ has acknowledged the extensive global reforms undertaken at Louis Berger since 2010,” said Nicholas J. Masucci, Louis Berger chairman. “2010 was a pivotal year in our company’s history. It marked a clear departure from the past as we assumed new management, new processes and comprehensive system reforms that are the core of our global operations today. Today’s settlement is the critical final milestone in our reform, as it was important for us to take responsibility for the historic actions of former managers and close the chapter on the company’s pre-2010 era.”

Prior to Louis Berger’s 2010 settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice for improper billing on U.S. government overhead accounts, the company undertook a thorough review of past practices of former managers, including improper overseas business activities. The company self-discovered and self-reported potential Foreign Corrupt Practices Act infractions to the U.S. government starting in 2010 and has been working with the government to resolve these issues since that time. In total, the company self-identified and self-reported findings of misconduct in Vietnam, Indonesia, India and Kuwait between 1998 and 2010 totaling $3.9 million in bribes.

Since 2010, Louis Berger has undergone a massive $25+ million reform effort that resulted in new internal controls, new policies and procedures, and comprehensive systems investments, including a new global accounting system.

The company has actively supported the government in its investigation of the culpable individuals and their activities. In addition to separating these former managers from the company, the firm also has added new managers to key positions, including chief financial officer and controller, and regional management teams throughout Asia and the Middle East. Additionally, the company implemented a new corporate operational model to ensure greater centralized oversight and control of overseas business activities. Moreover, the company has reformed its ownership structure by implementing an Employee Stock Ownership Program.

The company established an independent compliance and ethics department under the oversight of an independent audit committee, introduced a global helpline through which employees can report potentially non-compliant activities, and implemented a global code of business conduct. Investments also have funded annual worldwide compliance, ethics and anti-corruption training for all employees.

Under the terms of the deferred prosecution agreement, the company will work with a government-appointed monitor to test and report on its internal processes and controls as well as its compliance and ethics policies and training for three years.

“Transparency and accountability are the hallmarks of a sustainable business, and we are a much more efficient, responsible and transparent company today than we were five years ago,” said Masucci. “We will continue to monitor and improve our existing compliance system while delivering quality work to our clients with a level of integrity they expect.”

Brian Whisler (Baker & McKenzie) and Michael Himmel (Lowenstein Sandler) represented LBI.

Marubeni Enforcement Action Specifics

By on March 24, 2014 in 2014 Enforcement Actions, DOJ Enforcement Action, Engineering and Construction Industry, Foreign Non-Issuer Company, Indonesia, Marubeni Corp., Repeat Offenders

A post last week mentioned the $88 million Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action (the 12th largest of all-time in terms of settlement amount) against Marubeni (a Japanese company).  In 2012, Marubeni resolved a $55 million FCPA enforcement action (see here for the prior post) involving Bonny Island, Nigeria conduct.

This post highlights specifics from the enforcement action in the original source documents – the criminal information and plea agreement.  [Previously, the DOJ released original source documents relevant to an FCPA enforcement action at the same time as announcing the enforcement action.  However, according to a knowledgeable source, the DOJ has a new policy of releasing original source documents only when those documents have been filed-stamped by the relevant court.  While an understandable policy, the end result will likely be that the majority of reporting of FCPA enforcement actions will be reporting exclusively from DOJ press releases, not original source documents.  Not on this website] 

The Marubeni enforcement action is a virtual carbon copy of the April 2013 FCPA enforcement action against various current and former employees of Alstom concerning the Tarahan power project in Indonesia.  Indeed, as highlighted in the previous post, Marubeni is the “Consortium Partner” in the prior enforcement action and those associated with Alstom previously charged (Lawrence Hoskins, Frederic Pierucci, William Pomponi and David Rothschild) are mentioned prominently in the Marubeni enforcement action.

Information

The information alleges that Marubeni and its subsidiaries, including Marubeni Power Systems Corporation (“MPSC”), partnered with Alstom (simply referred to in the Information as Power Company) and its subsidiaries in bidding and carrying out of the Tarahan Project in Indonesia, a $118 project to provide power-related services to the citizens of Indonesia that was bid and contracted through Indonesia’s state-owned and state-controlled electricity company, Perusahaan Listrik Negara (“PLN”). According to the information, Marubeni managed all work on the project, including auxiliary equipment and civil building and installation work.

According to the information, Marubeni and Alstom retained two consultants (the same consultants as in the prior 2013 enforcement action) and the “consultant’s primary purpose was not to provide legitimate consulting services to Marubeni and Alstom but was instead to pay bribes to Indonesian officials who had the ability to influence the award of the Tarahan Project contract.”  The Indonesian officials are the same as the officials in the prior enforcement action.

“Official 1 … a member of Parliament in Indonesia [who] had influence over the award of contracts by PLN, including on the Tarahan Project”

“Official 2 … a high-ranking official at PLN [who] had broad decision-making authority and influence over the award of contracts by PLN, including on the Tarahan Project”

“Official 3 … an official at PLN [who] was a high-ranking member of the evaluation committee for the Tarahan Project. Official 3 had broad decision-making authority and influence over the award of the Tarahan contract.”

According to the information, Marubeni, through its employees and agents made payments to a consultant’s bank account in Maryland, knowing that a portion of the payments to the consultant was intended for Indonesian officials in exchange for their influence and assistance in awarding the Tarahan Project to Marubeni and Alstom.  In addition, the information alleges that Marubeni, through its employees and agents, attended meetings in Connecticut in connection with the Tarahan Project.

There are no specifics in the information concerning the Marbueni employees such as rank, title or position of the employees (as noted in the information, Marubeni has approximately 24,000 employees in over 70 countries).

Based on the above allegations, the information charges Marubeni with conspiracy to violate the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions. As to jurisdiction, the information alleges that Marubeni, through its employees, together with others, while in Connecticut discussed in person, via telephone and via e-mail the need to obtain the Tarahan Project and making bribe payments to various alleged foreign officials in order to obtain the contract, and offered to pay, promised to pay, and authorized the payment of bribes to obtain the contract.  The information alleges approximately 60 separate overt acts in furtherance in the conspiracy and the vast majority of these allegations concerning the alleged co-conspirators associated with Alstom.  There are relatively few specific overt acts allegations concerning Marubeni employees other than the following.

In 2002 and 2004 employees of Marubeni traveled to Connecticut “to attend meetings … in connection with the Tarahan Project”

Between 2002 – 2004, e-mails were sent to Marubeni employees from co-conspirators or from Marubeni employees to co-conspirators in connection with the project and bribery scheme

Twice in 2005 and once in 2008 “Marubeni caused” wire transfers from a bank account in New York to a consultant’s bank account in Maryland in furtherance of the bribery scheme

The “most recent” allegation supporting Marubeni’s conspiracy charge allegedly occurred in November 2008.

In addition to the conspiracy charge, the information also alleges 7 substantive FCPA anti-bribery violations under the 78dd-3 prong of the statute.  The jurisdictional element of 78dd-3 is “while in the territory of the United States, corruptly to make use of the mails or any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce or to do any other act in furtherance …” of a bribery scheme.

Two of the 7 FCPA anti-bribery charges are Marubeni specific (the above mentioned 2005 and 2008 wire transfers).  The other 5 FCPA anti-bribery charges are based on the conduct of Alstom employees.

Plea Agreement

In the plea agreement, Marubeni admitted to the factual allegations in the information and agreed that it was responsible for the acts of its present and former employees described in the information.

As set forth in the plea agreement, the advisory sentencing guidelines range for the conduct at issue was $63.7 million to $127.4 million.  Pursuant to the plea agreement, Marubeni agreed to pay $88 million.  This is a relatively rare situation of an FCPA corporate defendant paying a criminal fine amount within the guidelines range.

The plea agreement states that the DOJ believes that the fine amount was the appropriate disposition based on:  “(1) the nature and seriousness of the offense; (2) the Defendant’s failure to voluntarily disclose the conduct; (3) the Defendants refusal to cooperate with the Department’s investigation when given the opportunity to do so; (4) the lack of an effective compliance and ethics program at the time of the offense; (5) the Defendant’s failure to properly remediate: and (6) the Defendant’s history of prior criminal misconduct.”

As is typical in corporate FCPA resolutions, Marubeni agreed to a host of compliance requirements and the plea agreement also contains a muzzle clause.

DOJ Release

In this release, Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman stated:

“Marubeni pleaded guilty to engaging in a seven-year scheme to pay – and conceal – bribes to a high-ranking member of Parliament and other foreign officials in Indonesia.  The company refused to play by the rules, then refused to cooperate with the government’s investigation.  Now Marubeni faces the consequences for its crooked business practices in Indonesia .”

Acting U.S. Attorney Michael Gustafson (D. Conn.) stated:

“For several years, the Marubeni Corporation worked in concert with a Connecticut company, among others, to bribe Indonesian officials in order to secure a contract to provide power-related services in Indonesia.  Today’s guilty plea by Marubeni Corporation is an important reminder to the business community of the significant consequences of participating in schemes to bribe government officials, whether at home or abroad.”

FBI Assistant Director in Charge of the Washington Field Office Valerie Parlave stated:

“Companies that wish to do business in the United States or with U.S. companies must adhere to U.S. law, and that means bribery is unacceptable.  The FBI continues to work with our international law enforcement partners as demonstrated in this case to ensure that companies are held accountable for their criminal conduct.  I want to thank the agents, analysts and prosecutors who brought this case to today’s conclusion.”

Marubeni’s Release

In this release, Marubeni stated:

“[The enforcement action follows the successful completion by Marubeni of its obligations under a January 2012 Deferred Prosecution Agreement entered with the DOJ relating to the liquid natural gas project in Nigeria. That Agreement required Marubeni to retain a corporate compliance consultant for two years to review and enhance its anticorruption compliance program to ensure that it satisfies standards specified by the DOJ, and to report to the DOJ regarding the results of this review. This was completed in January 2014, and at the request of the DOJ the related proceeding was dismissed on February 26, 2014.

The Tarahan conduct pre-dates the execution of Marubeni’s 2012 Deferred Prosecution Agreement with the DOJ. Marubeni has undertaken extensive efforts to enhance its anti-corruption compliance program, and believes that its current program is robust and effective. Although the agreement reached with DOJ today does not require Marubeni to further engage a compliance consultant, Marubeni is taking this matter seriously and commits to continue to thoroughly implement and enhance its anti-corruption compliance program.”

Marc Weinstein (Hughes Hubbard & Reed) represented Marubeni.  Weinstein also represented Marubeni in connection with the 2012 FCPA enforcement action.

Closing Out The 70’s

By on September 14, 2011 in 1978-1988 Enforcement Actions, Albert Angulo, Algeria, Chile, DOJ Enforcement Action, Engineering and Construction Industry, Harlan Stein, Herman Frietsch, Holcar Oil Corporation, Individual Enforcement Action, Indonesia, International Systems & Controls Corporation, Iran, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Katy Industries Inc., Melvan Jacobs, Monitor, Nicaragua, Oil and Gas Industry, Qatar, R. Eugene Holley, Raymond Hofker, Roy Carver, Saudi Arabia, SEC Enforcement Action, Thomas Kenneally, Wallace Carroll

[This post is part of a periodic series regarding “old” FCPA enforcement actions]

Previous posts (here and here) detailed FCPA enforcement actions from the 1970’s against:  (i) Page Airways, Inc. (and six officers and/or directors of the company); and (ii) Kenny International Corporation and Finbar Kenny (Chairman of the Board, President and majority shareholder of Kenny International).

The 1970’s also witnessed:  (i) a SEC civil complaint against Katy Industries, Inc. and its executives Wallace Carroll and Melvan Jones; and (ii) a DOJ civil complaint against Roy Carver and R. Eugene Holley; and (iii) a SEC civil complaint against International Systems & Controls Corporation and its executives J. Thomas Kenneally, Herman Frietsch, Raymond Hofker, Albert Angulo and Harlan Stein.

These enforcement actions are summarized below.

Katy Industries, Wallace Carroll and Melvan Jacobs

In August 1978, the SEC alleged in a civil complaint for permanent injunction that Katy Industries, Inc. (“Katy”), Wallace Carroll (Chairman of the Board and CEO of Katy) and Melvan Jacobs (Director and Member of Katy’s Executive Committee and also an attorney who acted as counsel to Katy as to the conduct at issue)  “have engaged, are engaged and are about to engage in acts and practices” which constitute violations of various securities law provisions including the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions.

According to the SEC complaint, Katy was interested in obtaining an oil exploration concession in Indonesia and retained a consultant who was a “close personal friend of a high level Indonesian government official.”  The complaint alleges that Katy representatives and the consultant met with the official and his representative and during the meeting “the official agreed to assist Katy in obtaining an oil production sharing contract.”  Katy agreed to compensate the consultant if it received the contract and the SEC alleged that Katy representatives were “told that the consultant would give a portion of such compensation to the official and the official’s representative.”  According to the SEC, Katy entered into various agreements with the consultant and the official’s representative and thereafter “Katy entered into a thirty year Production Sharing Contract with Pertamina, the Indonesian Government-owned oil and gas enterprise.”  The SEC alleged that “Katy, Carroll and Jacobs knew or had reason to know that the official and the official’s representative would directly or indirectly share in the payments to the consultant for the duration of the thirty year Contract.”  In addition, the SEC alleged that Katy’s books and records did not reflect the true nature and purpose of the payments and that a “substantial portion” of the money paid by Katy to the consultant and the official’s representative “was expected by Katy to be given by the recipient to the official.”

Without admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations, Katy, Carroll and Jacobs consented to entry of final judgment of permanent injunction prohibiting future violations.  Katy also agreed to establish a Special Committee of its Board “to review the matters alleged in the complaint and to conduct such further investigation as it deems appropriate into these and other similar matters” and to file the Special Committee’s findings publicly with the SEC.

See here for original source documents.

Roy Carver and R. Eugene Holley

In April 1979, the DOJ alleged in a civil complaint for permanent injunction that Roy Carver (Chairman of the Board and President of Holcar Oil Corporation) and R. Eugene Holley (Vice President of Holcar Oil Corporation) “have engaged, are engaged and are about to engage in acts and practices which constitute violations” of the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions.  The complaint alleges that on a trip to Doha, Qatar, Carver and Holley learned of “the possibility of engaging in the business of petroleum exploration in that country” if a “substantial payment of money were to be made to Ali Jaidah [an official of the government of Qatar – specifically the Director of Petroleum Affairs) for his official approval of a concession agreement.”

According to the complaint, the defendants agreed to proceed with the project by forming Holcar in the Cayman Islands “as a vehicle for the purpose of exploiting the concession.”  The complaint alleges that the defendants further agreed “that an appropriate payment would be paid to Ali Jaidah to secure the necessary approval of the Government of Qatar.”  During a subsequent meeting in Doha, the complaint alleges that Carver and Holley met with Ali Jaidah who requested a $1.5 million payment “into the account of his brother, Kasim Jaidah, at the Swiss Credit Bank of Geneva, Switzerland.”  The complaint alleges that the defendants made the payment “knowing or having reason to know that all or a portion of such funds would be transferred to Ali Jaidah.”  According to the complaint, thereafter, “as a result of the cooperation, influence and approval of Ali Jaidah, the government of Qatar entered into an oil drilling concession agreement with Holcar.”  In addition, the complaint alleges that the defendants were willing to make additional payments to a new Director of Petroleum Affairs (Abdullah Sallat) when Holcar’s original concession agreement was under threat of termination given the company’s financing difficulties.  However, the complaint asserts that “neither Director Sallat nor any other official of the government of Qatar has directly or indirectly received or solicited or been offered any payment in connection with renewal of Holcar’s oil concession.”  Based on the above conduct, the DOJ charged that defendants “violated and may continue to violate” the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions.

Both Carver and Holley consented to the entry of a final judgment of permanent injunction enjoining future FCPA violations.  See here for original source documents.

International Systems & Controls Corp., J. Thomas Kenneally, Herman Frietsch, Raymond Hofker, Albert Angulo and Harlan Stein

In July 1979, the SEC filed a complaint against International Systems & Controls Corporation (“ISC”) and J. Thomas Kenneally (a director of ISC and its fomer CEO and Chairman of the Board), Herman Frietsch (Senior Vice President), Raymond Hofker (former General Counsel), Albert Angulo (former Treasurer) and Harlan Stein (Chief Engineer).  The complaint alleged, among other things, that ISC “paid more than $23 million through one or more subsidiaries to certain foreign persons and entities in order to assist the company in securing certain contracts.”  The complaint alleged that “in furtherance of this scheme, ISC disguised such payments on its books and records as consulting fees, consulting services, agent’s fees and commissions.”  The complaint also alleged that “ISC violated the internal accounting controls provisions by failing to devise an adequate system of internal controls because it failed to require vouchers, expense statements, or similar documentation for the activities or services for which certain expenditures were made.”

According to various media reports, the payments at issue were made to government officials and members of ruling families in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Nicaragua, Ivory Coast, Algeria, Chile and Iraq in connection with contracts for engineering and construction projects.

The SEC’s complaint charged violations of the FCPA’s books and records and internal controls provisions, as well as antifraud, proxy, and reporting violations.  In December 1979, ISC, Kenneally and Frietsch, without admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations,  consented to the entry of a final order enjoining future violations.   In addition, the final order directed ISC to, among other things, “appoint a special agent … who shall investigate and report on certain specific transactions.”  Furthermore,  Kenneally and Frietsch (for periods of four and two years respectively) agreed to be employed as an officer or director of an issuer only if that company “has a committee with duties and functions to those required of the ISC Audit Committee” as required by the consent degree.

See here for original source documents plus this packet of materials sent to me by a loyal reader.

*****

What are the take-away points from FCPA enforcement in the 1970’s?  Clearly, the enforcement agencies were getting their feet wet enforcing an infant statute and, in many of the enforcement actions, the agencies were confronted with conduct that actually pre-dated enactment of the FCPA in December 1977.  Thus, little can – or should be – taken away from the actual charging decisions in these early FCPA cases.

However, one meaningful take-away point is this.  While one can question how the enforcement agencies held company employees accountable (i.e. criminal v. civil charges), one can not question that the enforcement agencies did hold company employees accountable.  All five FCPA enforcement actions from the 1970’s involved company employees – a figure that stands in stark contrast to 2010 FCPA enforcement in which approximately 70% of corporate FCPA enforcement actions have not resulted (at least yet) in any DOJ charges against company employees.  See here for the prior post.

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