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DOJ Announces Guilty Pleas By Former Unaoil Executives

By on October 31, 2019 in 2019 Enforcement Actions, Algeria, Angola, Azerbaijan, Congo, Cyrus Ahsani, DOJ Enforcement Action, Foreign Nationals, Foreign Official, Foreign Officials, Gaining Access to Confidential Documents, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Libya, Oil and Gas Industry, Saman Ahsani, Steven Hunter, Syria, Unaoil, Uncategorized
unaoil

Yesterday, the DOJ announced that Cyrus Ahsani and Saman Ahsani (the former CEO and Chief Operations Officer of Monaco-based Unaoil) pleaded guilty in March 2019 to one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA for their roles in a scheme to corruptly facilitate millions of dollars in bribe payments to officials in multiple countries. The DOJ also announced that Steven Hunter (a former business development manager at Unaoil) pleaded guilty in August 2018 to one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA.

Prior Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement actions against Rolls-Royce and SBM Offshore (see here and here) involved, in whole or in part, Unaoil and the Ahsani information refers to approximately 25 other companies including approximately ten U.S. based issuers. Thus, it is likely that additional FCPA enforcement actions involving, in whole or in part, Unaoil will be forthcoming.

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Foreign Subsidiaries Of French Pharma Company Sanofi Allegedly Bribe Kazakh And Middle Eastern “Foreign Officials” – Uncle Sam Collects $25.2 Million

By on September 5, 2018 in 2018 Enforcement Actions, Anything of Value, Bahrain, Distributor Issues, Foreign Issuers, Gifts, Healthcare Providers As Foreign Officials, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Pharmaceutical Industry, Product Sample, Qatar, Sanofi, Syria, Travel and Entertainment, United Arab Emirates, Yemen
Uncle Sam3

If history is any guide, September is likely to be an active month for Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement as the SEC’s fiscal year ends.

Sure enough, yesterday the SEC announced an enforcement action against Paris-based pharmaceutical company Sanofi. The conduct at issue focused on employees and agents of the company’s subsidiaries in Kazakstan and various Middle Eastern countries providing things of value to “foreign officials, including healthcare professionals, in order to improperly influence them and increase sales of Sanofi products.”

In doing so, the enforcement action once again raises the policy issue of the U.S. bringing an enforcement action against a foreign company (domiciled in a country also party to the OECD Convention) for its interaction with non-U.S. officials. (See here for a prior post).

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SBM Offshore Resolves $238 Million FCPA Enforcement Action

By on November 29, 2017 in 2017 Enforcement Actions, Angola, Anything of Value, Brazil, DOJ Enforcement Action, Equitorial Guinea, Foreign Non-Issuer Company, Hiring Family Members of Foreign Officials, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Oil and Gas Industry, Paul Bond, SBM Offshore, Serious Fraud Office, Stephen Whiteley, Third Parties, Travel and Entertainment, Unaoil, United Kingdom, Voluntary Disclosure
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As highlighted in this prior post, in 2014 Netherlands-based SBM Offshore resolved a $240 million Dutch law enforcement action alleging improper payments to sales agents and foreign government officials in Equatorial Guinea, Angola and Brazil between 2007 through 2011. In connection with this action, the company disclosed: ““the United States Department of Justice has informed SBM Offshore that it is not prosecuting the Company and has closed its inquiry into the matter.”

Fast forward to earlier this month when, as highlighted in this prior post, the DOJ announced resolution of criminal charges against former SBM Offshore executive Anthony Mace and Robert Zubiate for their roles in a scheme to bribe foreign government officials in Brazil, Angola and Equatorial Guinea.

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Various Individuals Associated With Rolls-Royce Criminally Charged In Connection With Kazakhstan – Chinese Pipeline Project

By on November 9, 2017 in 2017 Enforcement Actions, Aloysius Johannes Jozef Zuurhout, Andreas Kohler, China, DOJ Enforcement Action, Individual Enforcement Action, James Finley, Kazakhstan, Keith Barnett, Petros Contoguris, Rolls-Royce
Rolls

As highlighted in prior posts here and here, in January 2017 the DOJ announced a $170 million Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action against U.K. based Rolls-Royce. The allegations included several generic references to employees at Rolls-Royce and Rolls-Royce Energy Systems (RRESI, an indirect subsidiary located in Ohio) who conspired to cause “to make over $35 million in commission payments to commercial advisors and others, knowing that the commission payments would be used to bribe foreign officials on behalf of Rolls-Royce and RRESI in Thailand, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Angola, Iraq and elsewhere, in exchange for foreign officials’ assistance in providing confidential information and awarding contracts to Rolls-Royce, RRESI, and affiliated entities.”

Earlier this week, the DOJ announced an FCPA enforcement action against five individuals based on the same Kazakhstan conduct alleged in the prior corporate action. That is, bribery in connection with an RRESI contract to supply gas turbine units to Asia Gas Pipeline LLC (AGP) for approximately $145 million.

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Rolls-Royce Resolves $170 Million FCPA Enforcement Action

By on January 24, 2017 in 2017 Enforcement Actions, Angola, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Foreign Non-Issuer Company, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Oil and Gas Industry, Rolls-Royce, Thailand
Rolls

If you were scoring at home, the last few weeks of the Obama administration were quite active for Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement. But then again this was expected.

First it was the $13 million joke of an enforcement action against Mondelēz International, Inc. on January 9th. Then it was the $30.4 million Biomet became an FCPA repeat offender enforcement action on January 12th. Then it was no U.S. nexus, no problem $30.5 million enforcement action against Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A on January 13th. Then it was the DOJ’s announcement (summarized in this post) on January 17th that U.K. based Rolls-Royce plc agreed to pay the U.S. net approximate $170 million (including an unusual component never before seen in FCPA enforcement) to resolve an FCPA enforcement action concerning conduct in Thailand, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Angola and Iraq. Then it was $6 million Orthofix Int’l also became an FCPA repeat offender enforcement action on January 18th. Then in the finals hours of the Obama administration it was unusual $7 million enforcement action against Las Vegas Sands (headed by major Republican donor Sheldon Adelson who was front and center at Trump’s inauguration) based on the same core conduct as the SEC’s enforcement action against the company nine months earlier.  Individual FCPA enforcement actions (here and here) were sprinkled in as well.

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