Scoular Resolves $10.2 Million FCPA Enforcement Action
In 2025, Carlos Leopoldo Alvelais pleaded guilty to a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act offense of some sort in the Western District of Texas. (See here for the prior post).
The facts and circumstances of the enforcement action were unclear as much of the substantive court docket was and remains under seal.
However, last Friday the DOJ announced that “The Scoular Company (Scoular), an agricultural supply chain company based in Omaha, Nebraska, will pay over $10 million to resolve an investigation by the Justice Department into a years-long scheme in which it relied on bribery of Mexican officials to deliver trains of goods across the U.S.-Mexico border.”
According to the DOJ release, Carlos Leopoldo Alvelais was a customs broker who paid bribes on behalf of Scoular.
Guilty Plea
This recent post checked in on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action against Abraham Cigarroa Cervantes (pictured – a Mexican citizen described as a former finance director of the Latin America division of Stericycle).
In terms of background, in mid-2022, Stericycle (an Illinois based medical waste disposal company) resolved a net $59 million parallel DOJ and SEC Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action (see here and here for prior posts).
In the words of the DOJ: “From in or about and between at least 2011 and 2016, Stericycle, through certain of its employees and agents, knowingly and willfully conspired and agreed with others to corruptly offer and pay approximately $10.5 million in bribes to, and for the benefit of, foreign officials in Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina in order to obtain and retain business and other advantages for and on behalf of Stericycle. Stericycle earned approximately $21.5 million in profits from the corrupt scheme and through its corruptly obtained and retained government contracts.”
DOJ Charges Individual In Connection With Alleged PEMEX Bribery Scheme
Earlier this week in the S.D. of Texas, this DOJ filed a criminal information against Alfonso Wilson alleging that he and others obtained and retained a December 2021 Contract with PEMEX for an Equipment Company through corrupt and fraudulent means, including by offering and paying bribes to a Foreign Official.
Wilson is described was a dual citizen of the United States and Mexico and a resident who owned and controlled an Intermediary Company and who had responsibilities for liaising with Foreign Official as an agent of Equipment Company in connection with obtaining the December 2021 Contract for Equipment Company.
According to this LinkedIn profile, Al Wilson is the Chief Executive Officer at Oil Technologies Consortium. Wilson’s LinkedIn profile indicates that between 1994 and 2006 he worked at PEMEX.
The Equipment Company (described as a company based in Texas) is believed to be Drillmec.
The Foreign Official is described as a senior executive at PEMEX Exploración y Producción (“PEP” – a wholly owned exploration and production subsidiary of PEMEX) between 2018 and 2021.
Defense Counsel Asserts That The DOJ Invented A “Cartel / FCPA Case” As Part Of A “PR Campaign”
This prior post highlighted a recent DOJ FCPA enforcement action concerning an alleged bribery scheme in Mexico.
The indictment charges Ramon Alexandro Rovirosa Martinez (a citizen of Mexico and a lawful permanent resident of Texas) and Mario Alberto Avila Lizarraga (a citizen of Mexico and lawful permanent resident of Texas) for their roles in an alleged bribery scheme to retain and obtain business related to Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX), the state-owned oil company of Mexico, and PEMEX Exploración y Producción (PEP), PEMEX’s wholly owned exploration and production subsidiary.
Yesterday, Rovirosa’s attorneys (Ryan McConnell, Matthew Boyden, and Lawrence Finder – all former DOJ prosecutors) filed two motions.
The first is a motion to strike the DOJ’s reference (not in the indictment, but in a separate motion) to Rovirosa being associated with Mexican cartels.
The Many FCPA Enforcement Actions Involving PEMEX
Can doing business with a specific customer – in and of itself – be a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act “red flag”?
That seems a bit harsh, particularly when the company has approximately 125,000 employees.
Then again, as set forth in this post, it is hard to ignore that a dozen corporate FCPA enforcement actions have involved – in whole or in part – bribery schemes involving employees of Mexico’s Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) and it various subsidiaries and affiliates.