Friday Roundup
Oops, scrutiny alert, and does Senator Rubio understand the FCPA? It’s all here in the Friday roundup.
Oops
It’s probably not a good idea for Department of Justice officials to boast about Foreign Corrupt Practices Act trial court verdicts when post-trial motions are pending.
Here is what Assistant Attorney General Benczkowski said about the Hoskins FCPA case on December 4, 2019.
In A Setback For The DOJ, Judge Grants Hoskin’s Motion For Acquittal Of All FCPA Charges
This November 2019 post concerning the jury verdict in the long-running Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action against Lawrence Hoskins (the FCPA conduct Hoskins was found guilty of allegedly occurred between 2002 and 2004 and the trial took place in 2019 nearly 15 years later) noted that the jury verdict was not the final chapter in the enforcement action, just merely a development.
Indeed.
Earlier today in a setback for the Department of Justice and its FCPA theory of prosecution, Judge Janet Bond Arterton (D. Conn) granted Hoskin’s motion for acquittal on the seven FCPA charges he was convicted of by the jury (See here for the decision. The judge denied Hoskin’s motion for acquittal on the five money laundering charges he was convicted of by the jury).
Assistant Attorney General Benczkowski Speaks On A Variety Of FCPA Topics
Earlier this week, Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski delivered this speech at the FCPA’s annual dog and pony show (also know as the American Conference Institute’s FCPA conference).
As highlighted below, in the speech Benczkowski discussed individual and corporate enforcement, the DOJ’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, the recent trial in the Hoskins matters and agency issues, as well as DOJ policy.
Benczkowski began by noting the “remarkable prosecution activity and case developments in the FCPA space over the past year” and stated:
Hoskins Seeks Judgment Of Acquittal Or New Trial
As highlighted in this prior post, last month Lawrence Hoskins (a United Kingdom national and former senior vice president for the Asia region for France-based Alstom) was found guilty of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and related offenses “for his role in a multi-year, multimillion-dollar foreign bribery scheme and a related money laundering scheme.”
The long-drawn out case has had many interesting twists and turns as Hoskins was charged in 2013 for conduct that occurred between 2002 and 2004. Moreover, as highlighted in prior posts, both the trial court and Second Circuit rejected the DOJ’s expansive jurisdiction enforcement theory against the foreign national. Nevertheless, the case was allowed to proceed to trial largely on the factual issue of whether Hoskins was “an agent of a domestic concern.”
Hoskins Found Guilty – Appeal Likely
As summarized in this recent post, in 2013, the DOJ criminally charged Lawrence Hoskins (a United Kingdom national and former senior vice president for the Asia region for France-based Alstom) with conspiracy to violate the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions among other charges. The conduct at issue alleged occurred between 2002 and 2004. Six years after being charged and approximately 15 years after the alleged conduct at issue took place, the Hoskins trial began in late October.
Earlier today, the DOJ announced that Hoskins “was found guilty … for his role in a multi-year, multimillion-dollar foreign bribery scheme and a related money laundering scheme.”