Contrary To The Narrative
There are certain narratives in the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act space – while theoretically possible – are rarely, if ever, found in actual FCPA enforcement actions.
For instance, all probably recognize that a bribe to foreign official to obtain a contract to build a bridge could – theoretically – result in the contract being awarded to a company that uses sub-standard steel causing the bridge to collapse and thus causing human injuries and/or death.
Likewise, all probably recognize that a bribe to a foreign physician (who the DOJ and SEC may consider a “foreign official”) to implant a defective medical device or to prescribe a worthless drug could – theoretically – result in patient health and safety issues.
Friday Roundup
Convicted, sentenced, to FCPA Inc. and for the reading stack. It’s all here in the Friday Roundup.
Convicted
As noted in this DOJ release: “[Donville Inniss] a former member of the Barbados Parliament, who also served as the Minister of Industry of Barbados, was found guilty [of two counts of money laundering and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering] by a federal jury for his role in a scheme to launder bribes paid to him by executives of the Insurance Corporation of Barbados Limited (ICBL).”
Money Laundering Charges Against Former Insurance Corp. of Barbados Executives Unsealed
As highlighted in this prior post, in August 2018 the DOJ quietly released a so-called declination with disgorgement letter concerning Insurance Corporation of Barbados Ltd. (ICBL).
Pursuant to the agreement, ICBL agreed to pay approximately $94,000 for alleged bribes to a Barbadian government official in exchange for insurance contracts. As noted in the prior post, Donville Inniss (the “foreign official”) was charged with money laundering offenses.
In an August 2018 superseding indictment recently unsealed by the DOJ, Ingrid Innes (a Canadian citizen, resident of Barbados and former CEO of ICBL) and Alex Tasker (a citizen and resident of Barbados and former senior VP of ICBL) were also charged – not with FCPA anti-bribery violations – but with money laundering offenses. (For media coverage see here, for the DOJ’s release see here).
DOJ Quietly Releases “Declination With Disgorgement” Letter Agreement Concerning Insurance Corp. Of Barbados Ltd.
Yesterday, the DOJ quitely posted to its FCPA website this “declination with disgorgement” letter concerning Insurance Corporation of Barbados Limited (ICBL).
Pursuant to the agreement, ICBL agreed to pay approximately $94,000 to the U.S. for alleged bribes to a Barbadian government official in exchange for insurance contracts.
The full text of the DOJ’s letter to ICBL’s counsel (Adam Siegel – Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer) is as follows.
Friday Roundup
Scrutiny alerts and updates, charged, it needs to stop, and my answer. It’s all here in the Friday roundup.
Scrutiny Alerts and Updates
Plantronics/Polycom
In March 2018, Plantronics (an audio communications company) announced that it entered into a definitive agreement by which it would acquire Polycom in a cash and stock transaction valued at $2.0 billion. The transaction closed in early July and recently Plantronics disclosed: