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Potted Plant: DC Circuit Concludes That Trial Court Judges Have No Authority To Reject DOJ DPAs

By on April 7, 2016 in Deferred Prosecution Agreements, Fokker Services
potted plant

Given the prominence of DPAs (and NPAs) in resolving corporate FCPA enforcement actions, for over a year FCPA Professor has been closely following U.S. v. Fokker Services (a case outside the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act context involving criminal charges against Fokker to unlawfully export U.S. origin goods and Services to Iran, Sudan, and Burma).

In resolving the case, the DOJ and Fokker agreed to an 18 month DPA in which the company agreed to forfeit $10.5 million and to pay an additional $10.5 million in a parallel civil settlement.

No so fast, Judge Leon (D.D.C.) said in rejecting the DPA in February 2015 (see here for the prior post). In pertinent part, Judge Leon stated:

“Both of the parties argue, not surprisingly, that the Court’s role is extremely limited in these circumstances.  They essentially request the Court to serve as a rubber stamp […].  Unfortunately for the parties, the Court’s role is not quite so restricted. […] “One of the purposes of the Court’s supervisory powers, of course, is to protect the integrity of the judicial process.” When, as here, the mechanism chosen by the parties to resolve charged criminal activity requires Court approval, it is the Court’s duty to consider carefully whether that approval should be given. […] I do not undertake this review lightly.  I am well aware, and agree completely, that our supervisory powers are to exercised ‘sparingly, and I fully recognize that this is not a typical case for the use of such powers.  The defendant has signed onto the DPA and is not seeking redress for an impropriety it has identified.  But the Court must consider the public as well as the defendant.  After all, the integrity of judicial proceedings would be compromised by giving the Court’s stamp of approval to either overly-lenient prosecutorial action, or overly-zealous prosecutorial conduct.” […] The Court concludes that this agreement does not constitute an appropriate exercise of prosecutorial discretion and I cannot approve it in its current form.”

Both the DOJ and Fokker Services appealed Judge Leon’s denial of the DPA and the DOJ basically told the court “hands off our DPAs” (see here for the prior post).

During the September 2015 oral argument before the DC Circuit, the court seemed to have some serious concerns regarding the substantive and procedural arguments of the parties.

However, earlier this week in this decision, the DC Circuit (in an opinion authored by Judge Sri Srinivasan) concluded that Judge Leon should have been a potted plant because trial court judges lack authority to reject DOJ DPAs.

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Oral Argument Heard In Notable DPA Appeal

By on September 14, 2015 in Deferred Prosecution Agreements, Fokker Services
oral argument

Non-prosecution agreements (NPAs) and deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) are the predominate way in which the DOJ resolves Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement actions against business organizations.

Indeed, as highlighted in this prior post, since 2010 86% of corporate DOJ FCPA enforcement actions have involved either an NPA or DPA.

Even though U.S. v. Fokker Services is not an FCPA case (it involves criminal charges against the company to unlawfully export U.S. origin goods and services to Iran, Sudan, and Burma) the case has been followed closely here at FCPA Professor because of its potential impact on FCPA enforcement.

As highlighted in this prior post, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon (D.D.C.) refused to rubber stamp the DPA agreed to by the DOJ and Fokker Services.  Judge Leon’s decision is being appealed to the D.C. Circuit and as noted in this prior post the DOJ’s position is basically “hands off our DPAs.” See here for additional briefs filed in the matter.

Last Friday the D.C. Circuit heard oral arguments in the appeal and the audio file of the arguments is here. (For a good summary of the oral argument, see here).

The appeal presents an uncommon situation in which the DOJ and criminal defendant share similar positions – that is, wanting the DPA to be approved so both sides can move on.

Yet as evidenced in the oral argument, the court seems to have serious concerns regarding the substantive and procedural arguments of the parties.

Friday Roundup

By on July 10, 2015 in Asset Recovery, Cerberus Capital Management, FCPA Inc., Fokker Services, Griffiths Energy, Libya, Norway, VimpelCom, Yara Fertilizer, Year in Review 2015
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Scrutiny alerts and updates, asset recovery, Fokker DPA appeal, Holder to private practice, and for the reading stack. It’s all here in the Friday roundup.

Scrutiny Alerts and Updates

Former Yara Executives

Reuters reports:

“A Norwegian court sentenced four former top executives at Yara, the world’s biggest nitrate fertilizer maker, to prison on Tuesday for paying bribes in Libya and India, in one of Norway’s biggest corruption scandals. Prosecutors had accused the men of paying around $8 million in bribes to officials in Indiaand Libya – including to the family of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s oil minister and the family of a financial adviser in India’s Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers – for the right to establish joint ventures. Former CEO Thorleif Enger got the longest sentence of three years. His lawyer said he would appeal the sentence. Former chief legal officer Kendrick Wallace was sentenced to 2-1/2 years in prison, while former head of upstream activities Tor Holba and former deputy CEO Daniel Clauw were both given two-year jail terms years, court documents showed.”

For more on the underlying Libya investigations, see here.

Cerberus Capital Management

Cerberus Capital Management has been the subject of several recent media articles (see here and here for instance) concerning its purchase of a portfolio of the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) in 2014 in Northern Ireland.  According to reports:

“Northern Irish politicians have called for an investigation after a politican in Dublin alleged that Belfast law firm Tughans had £7m in an account, ‘reportedly earmarked for a Northern Ireland politician’.”

Tughans was engaged as local counsel by Brown Rudnick in connection with its representation of Cerberus. In response to the scrutiny, Brown Rudnick released this statement.

Asset Recovery

The DOJ recently filed this civil forfeiture complaint seeking “£22 million in British pounds (approximately $34 million at current exchange rates) that represent the value of 4,000,000 founders’ shares in Griffiths Energy International Inc. (“Griffiths Energy”), and that are traceable to, and involved in the laundering of, bribe payments made to Chadian diplomats …”.

According to the complaint, Griffiths Energy gave Mahamoud Adam Bechir (“Bechir”), Chad’s ambassador to the United States and Canada from approximately 2004 to 2012, and others “valuable company shares in exchange for Bechir exercising his official influence over the award to the company of lucrative oil development rights in Chad.”

The recent action is the second DOJ civil action filed in connection with the Griffiths Energy matter.  (See here).

See here for the prior post regarding the underlying Canadian enforcement action against Griffiths Energy.

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As highlighted in this Bloomberg article:

“The Justice Department is seeking to seize $300 million claimed to be the proceeds of an international bribery conspiracy involving two Russian phone companies, as the U.S. joins a group of European nations in a telecom corruption probe. The U.S. claims VimpelCom Ltd., part-owned by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman, and Mobile TeleSystems OJSC used a web of shell companies and phony consulting contracts to funnel bribes to a close relative of Uzbekistan’s president, Islam Karimov, in exchange for access to that country’s telecommunications market. The assets sought by the U.S., in a complaint filed Monday in Manhattan federal court, are held in Bank of New York Mellon Corp. in Ireland, Luxembourg and Belgium. VimpelCom said in March 2014 that its Amsterdam headquarters had been raided by Dutch prosecutors and that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission demanded documents as part of the probe into its business.”

Fokker DPA Appeal

This previous post concerned the pending D.C. Circuit appeal of the DOJ – Fokker Services deferred prosecution agreement. Recently David Debruin (Jenner & Block), the court appointed amicus, filed this brief.

Regarding the following issue: “whether the District Court abused its discretion by denying the parties’ motion to exclude time under the Speedy Trial Act […] which provides for the exclusion of a period of delay pursuant to a deferred prosecution agreement “with the approval of the court.”, the brief states in pertinent part:

“If the Court reaches the merits, it should hold that the District Court had the authority to consider the substantive fairness of the DPA. Under 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(2), a DPA requires “approval of the court.” The plain text of this provision grants a district court the discretion to consider the substantive fairness of a DPA before approving it. The parties argue that a district court may reject a DPA only if it concludes that the parties are using the DPA as a pretext for a continuance, but that artificial restriction on judges’ discretion finds no basis in § 3161(h)(2). The legislative history, structure, and purpose of the Speedy Trial Act similarly confirm a district court’s discretion to consider a DPA’s substantive fairness.

Contrary to the parties’ contentions, the District Court’s rejection of the DPA poses no separation-of-powers problem. The District Court’s order does not force the Government to pursue a criminal prosecution. The Government remains free to negotiate a new DPA, try its case, or dismiss the charges. Prosecutorial discretion does not confer upon the Government the right to force a judge to exclude time from the Speedy Trial Act clock for 18 months. A district court order excluding time under the Speedy Trial Act is a judicial act, and separation-ofpowers principles give a judge the authority and the obligation to exercise independent judgment in performing that judicial act. If the Government had wanted to avoid judicial involvement, it should have signed a non-prosecution agreement; by instead choosing to invoke judicial process and filing a motion to exclude time under the Speedy Trial Act, it cannot now characterize the District Court’s denial of that motion as a separation-of-powers violation.

On the merits, the District Court did not abuse its discretion in rejecting the DPA. FSBV willfully violated the U.S. sanctions regime over 1,000 times and repeatedly provided assistance to the Iranian military. Yet under the DPA, as long as it agreed to pay back the revenues it earned and promised not to break the law, it would get off scot-free. The District Court’s conclusion that the DPA was grossly disproportionate to FSBV’s conduct was entirely reasonable.”

Holder to Covington

Recently Covington & Burling announced:

“Former U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr., is returning to Covington as a partner after more than six years of service as the nation’s top law enforcement officer. Mr. Holder will be resident in the firm’s Washington office and focus on complex investigations and litigation matters, including matters that are international in scope and raise significant regulatory enforcement issues and substantial reputational concerns. […] Mr. Holder was a partner at Covington from 2001 until February 2009, when President Obama appointed and the Senate confirmed him as the nation’s 82nd Attorney General.”

Reading Stack

Gibson Dunn’s Mid-Year FCPA Update is here.

Gibson Dunn’s Mid-Year Update on Corporate NPAs and DPAs is here.

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A good weekend to all.

DOJ Tells DC Circuit – Hands Off Our DPAs

By on June 25, 2015 in Deferred Prosecution Agreements, Fokker Services
StopSign

This February post highlighted Judge Richard Leon’s (D.D.C) refusal to rubber stamp a DOJ deferred prosecution agreement in U.S. v. Fokker Services (an enforcement action which resolved criminal charges against Fokker for unlawfully exporting U.S. origin goods and services to Iran, Sudan, and Burma via a DPA).

Although the action was not an Foreign Corrupt Practices Act action, NPAs and DPAs are the predominate way in which the DOJ resolves FCPA enforcement actions against business organization.

Thus the appeal in Fokker Services is certainly worth watching.

Recently the DOJ filed this opening brief in which it argued that courts need to keep their hands off of DOJ DPAs.

In summary fashion, the DOJ argues as follows (internal citations omitted).

“As early in the Nation’s history as the year 1800, then-Congressman (later Chief Justice) John Marshall explained in a speech before the House of Representatives that, under the principle of prosecutorial discretion, the Executive Branch possesses “an indubitable and a constitutional power” to “direct that the criminal be prosecuted no farther.” “This is no interference with judicial decisions,” Marshall explained, “nor any invasion of the province of a court.” Id. Making a similar point in a more recent decision, this Court explained that, “when the government is challenged for not bringing as extensive an action as it might, a district judge must be careful not to exceed his or her constitutional role.” The decision below violates this separation-of-powers principle by improperly interfering with the Executive Branch’s exercise of prosecutorial discretion in a criminal case. Whether through appellate review under the collateral-order doctrine, or by issuing a writ of mandamus, this Court should reverse the district court’s aggrandizement of its judicial role well beyond settled constitutional limits.

It is well-established that the Executive Branch has broad discretion to determine when to prosecute an individual for violation of the criminal laws. That principle applies in a variety of different contexts, such as the dismissal of criminal charges, evaluation of plea agreements, and even review of consent decrees and similar civil agreements. Courts, including this Court, have repeatedly stressed the bedrock principle that Article III courts cannot intrude upon the prosecutorial discretion of the Executive Branch.

The principle is equally applicable in the context of a DPA negotiated to exclude time under the Speedy Trial Act. The text, structure, and history of the Speedy Trial Act establish that district courts have authority to review DPAs to ensure that they have been negotiated “for the purpose of allowing the defendant to demonstrate his good conduct.” Nothing in the Speedy Trial Act suggests that Congress altered the established prosecutorial-discretion framework by authorizing district courts to review intrusively the terms of DPAs for excessive leniency toward defendants. Indeed, to the extent that the Act is ambiguous about the scope of district-court review, it must be construed to avoid any clash with established principles of constitutional law.

Measured against this yardstick, the district court’s order was clearly erroneous. The court expressly premised its decision on its view that the government had been too lenient toward the corporate defendant — as well as, remarkably, its surprise that the government did not prosecute any individual corporate officers. Nothing within the district court’s supervisory powers allows it to intrude on the prosecutorial function and violate the separation of powers in this fashion.”

See here for Fokker Services opening brief.

Friday Roundup

By on February 27, 2015 in Cobalt International Energy, Deferred Prosecution Agreements, Fokker Services, General Cable Corp., Juniper Networks, Kraft, Mondelēz International, Morgan Stanley, Third Parties, World Bank
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Save the date, scrutiny updates, coming attraction, job alert, and for the reading stack. It’s all here in the Friday roundup.

Save the Date

An event notice for East Coast readers.

On Friday, March 6th, the Fordham Law Review is hosting a free symposium opened to the public titled “Fighting Corruption in American and Abroad.”

To learn more about the event click here.

Preet Bharara (U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York) will be delivering a keynote address and symposium panels will explore the following topics.

(i) What is Corruption?—How Should We Define It, and Why Is It Bad?

(ii) Landmark Domestic Bribery Prosecutions

(iii) Corruption Regulation in Practice via the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; and

(iv) The Political Economy of Global Corruption Regulation

I will be appearing on the third panel along with: Lanny Breuer (Partner, Covington & Burling LLP);  Jay Holtmeier (Partner, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP); and Lucinda Low (Partner, Steptoe & Johnson LLP).

I have previously written about FCPA enforcement during Mr. Breuer’s tenure as Assistant Chief of the DOJ Criminal Division, but my panel presentation will concern a different topic – my forthcoming article:  “The Uncomfortable Truths and Double Standards of Bribery Enforcement.”  The article explores how the U.S. crusade against bribery suffers from several uncomfortable truths, including a double standard regarding corporate interaction with “foreign officials” under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and corporate interaction with U.S. officials under the U.S. laws.

Scrutiny Updates

General Cable Corp.

The company initially disclosed FCPA scrutiny in September 2014 and recently disclosed:

“As we previously reported, we have been reviewing, with the assistance of external counsel, certain commission payments involving sales to customers of our subsidiary in Angola. The review has focused upon payment practices with respect to employees of public utility companies, use of agents in connection with such payment practices, and the manner in which the payments were reflected in our books and records. We have determined at this time that certain employees in our Portugal and Angola subsidiaries directly and indirectly made or directed payments at various times from 2002 through 2013 to officials of Angola government-owned public utilities that raise concerns under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and possibly under the laws of other jurisdictions.

On February 20, 2015, based on the analysis completed at that time with the assistance of our external counsel and forensic accountants, we concluded that we were able to reasonably estimate the amount of profit derived from sales made to the Angolan government-owned public utilities in connection with the payments described above, which we believe are likely to ultimately be disgorged. As a result, we have recorded an estimated charge in the amount of $24 million as an accrual as of December 31, 2014. The accrued amount reflects only an estimate of the Angola-related profits reasonably likely to be disgorged, and does not include provision for any fines, civil or criminal penalties, or other relief, any or all of which could be substantial.”

Cobalt

As highlighted in this prior post, the company recently prevailed over the SEC regarding the company’s FCPA scrutiny.  Set forth below is what Cobalt’s CEO (Joe Bryant) said during a recent investor conference call.

ANALYST: [J]ust one additional question for you. Back in January, you mentioned or had a press release that the SEC terminated its investigation; but the Department of Justice was still going forward with its parallel investigation into activities in Angola. Where does that stand now, Joe?

JOE BRYANT: Darn it […]. I was hoping to get through this conference without anybody bringing up any FCPA questions.

ANALYST: Sorry about that.

JOE BRYANT: No, I would — it’s pretty simple, really. Our focus in the past several years has obviously been with the SEC; and we brought the DOJ into the investigation early on to make sure that they could run a parallel investigation, if that was what they wanted. By the way, I will say that throughout this entire period, I can’t say enough about the working relationship we developed with the SEC and trying to make sure they understood what we did and they had everything we had in terms of the issue at question.

So we got the SEC out of the way. The DOJ is an independent agency, and it will run its process according to its measures. But I do think that we consider this issue largely behind us.”

Juniper Networks

The company disclosed FCPA scrutiny in August 2013 (albeit in short fashion – see here) and recently disclosed as follows.

“The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) are conducting investigations into possible violations by the Company of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The Company is cooperating with these agencies regarding these matters. The Company’s Audit Committee, with the assistance of independent advisors, has been investigating and conducting a thorough review of possible violations of the FCPA, and has made recommendations for remedial measures, including employee disciplinary actions in foreign jurisdictions, which the Company has implemented and continues to implement. The Company is unable to predict the duration, scope or outcome of the SEC and DOJ investigations, but believes that an adverse outcome is reasonably possible. However, the Company is not able to estimate a reasonable range of possible loss. The SEC and/or DOJ could take action against us or we could agree to settle. In such event, we could be required to pay substantial fines and sanctions and/or implement additional remedial measures; in addition, it may be determined that we violated the FCPA.”

Mondelez International

Kraft Foods long ago disclosed FCPA scrutiny resulting from its acquisition of Cadbury (see here).  Kraft, currently known as Mondelēz International, Inc., recently disclosed as follows.

“[A]fter we acquired Cadbury in February 2010 we began reviewing and adjusting, as needed, Cadbury’s operations in light of applicable standards as well as our policies and practices. We initially focused on such high priority areas as food safety, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) and antitrust. Based upon Cadbury’s pre-acquisition policies and compliance programs and our post-acquisition reviews, our preliminary findings indicated that Cadbury’s overall state of compliance was sound. Nonetheless, through our reviews, we determined that in certain jurisdictions, including India, there appeared to be facts and circumstances warranting further investigation. We are continuing our investigations in certain jurisdictions, including in India, and we continue to cooperate with governmental authorities.

As we previously disclosed, on February 1, 2011, we received a subpoena from the SEC in connection with an investigation under the FCPA, primarily related to a facility in India that we acquired in the Cadbury acquisition. The subpoena primarily requests information regarding dealings with Indian governmental agencies and officials to obtain approvals related to the operation of that facility. We are continuing to cooperate with the U.S. and Indian governments in their investigations of these matters, including through ongoing meetings with the U.S. government to discuss potential conclusion of the U.S. government investigation.”

Coming Attraction

This recent post highlighted judicial rejection of a deferred prosecution between the DOJ and Fokker Services.

Fokker recently announced:

“After careful review of the Court’s decision, Fokker Services decided to file a Notice of Appeal. Fokker Services has noticed recent press articles which contain highly speculative assumptions and amounts, not based on facts. Fokker cannot run ahead of the outcome of its appeal and will make further announcement only if and when applicable.”

While the case is outside the FCPA context, this appeal will certainly be one to follow as DPAs (as well as NPAs) are a prominent feature of FCPA enforcement.

Job Alert

Avon Calling!  Avon Colombia S.A.S., a subsidiary of Avon Products, Inc., based in Medellin, Colombia, is looking for an attorney to join the Ethics & Compliance team.  The Compliance Counsel has day-to-day operational responsibility for managing the compliance program in the Andean Cluster (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela).  The program seeks to minimize risk exposure of corporate and regulatory law through company guidance and controls.  A primary activity of the Compliance Counsel is to provide operational advice and interpretation of company policies and procedures, including but not limited to the company’s anti-corruption policy.  As part of the program, the Compliance Counsel supports corporate, regional and local governance, monitoring, auditing, training and communication initiatives.  A primary goal for the Compliance Counsel is to enhance the culture of awareness and adherence to company policies.  Prospective candidates should apply via the Avon website.

Reading Stack

Third parties are not just a corruption risk in the global marketplace, but the domestic marketplace as well.  See here for the New York Daily News article about so-called “expediters” who assist developers navigate bureaucracy “to speed their projects to approval — getting permits faster, addressing violations and filling out key paperwork. It’s an arrangement critics have long slammed as corrupt.”

The most recent edition of the always information Debevoise & Plimpton FCPA Update is here.  Regarding the recent rejection of a DPA in the Fokker Services action (see here) the Update states:

“In the FCPA context and beyond, the Fokker Services decision is a reminder that increased judicial scrutiny of proposed settlement agreements with law enforcement agencies may be the “new normal.” Although the outcome of Fokker Services’ appeal remains to be seen, Judge Leon’s decision may entice prosecutors in future cases to seek harsher terms in DPAs out of concern for heightened judicial scrutiny of proposed DPAs, or instead shy away from DPAs entirely and attempt to achieve sufficient punishment and deterrence through Non-Prosecution Agreements (“NPAs”). In addition, Judge Leon’s concern that no individuals were charged in Fokker Services may further embolden prosecutors to demand individual accountability as part of proposed settlements or in the lead-up to such settlements.”

Some are still drinking the Kool-Aid regarding Morgan Stanley’s so-called declination.  (See here – “A robust compliance program spared Morgan Stanley from prosecution under the FCPA”).  Just goes to show that once a narrative is cast, nothing else seems to matter.

A recent Q&A in the Wall Street Journal’s Risk & Compliance Journal with Pascale Hélène Dubois (the World Bank’s chief suspension and debarment officer).

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A good weekend to all.

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