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Friday Roundup

Roundup

FCPA Defendant Passes Away

As highlighted in this prior post, in August 2021 the DOJ announced that Naman Wakil, a Syrian national and U.S. lawful permanent resident, was “arrested in Miami on charges related to his alleged role in a scheme to bribe Venezuelan officials and launder funds to obtain contracts from Venezuela’s state-owned and state-controlled energy company, Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), and Venezuela’s state-owned and state-controlled food company that purchased food for Venezuela, Corporación de Abastecimiento y Servicios Agrícola (CASA).”

Since his arrest, Wakil was confined to home detention “except for court appearances, attorney visits, religious services, or pre-approved activities by the probation officer.” In early June 2023, the judge granted an unopposed motion to modify the conditions of Wakil’s release to allow him to “leave his residence subject to a curfew between 8:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m.”

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Checking In On The Wakil Enforcement Action

Checkin

As highlighted in this prior post, in August 2021 the DOJ announced that Naman Wakil, a Syrian national and U.S. lawful permanent resident, was “arrested in Miami on charges related to his alleged role in a scheme to bribe Venezuelan officials and launder funds to obtain contracts from Venezuela’s state-owned and state-controlled energy company, Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), and Venezuela’s state-owned and state-controlled food company that purchased food for Venezuela, Corporación de Abastecimiento y Servicios Agrícola (CASA).”

Recently, Wakil (through his attorneys Stephen Binhak and Black Srebnick attorneys Howard Srebnick and Jackie Perczek) filed three motions.

The first motion is a motion to dismiss the indictment for failure to state an offense and states in summary:

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Wakil Enforcement Action – Obtain Or Retain Business?

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This previous post summarized the DOJ’s criminal charges against Naman Wakil regarding an alleged bribery scheme in Venezuela.

Should the case be litigated, there will be some interesting legal issues to consider including “obtain or retain” business.

The FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions are not an all-purpose corporate ethics statute, but rather a limited statute with specific elements that must be met for there to be a violation.

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Same General Script, As DOJ Charges Individual In Connection With Alleged Bribes In Venezuela

wakil

You have likely read the script many times in the last several years.

An individual associated with small privately-held companies does business in Venezuela and paid alleged bribes (and/or laundered money) in connection with the bribery scheme.

The script repeated itself yesterday as the DOJ announced that Naman Wakil (pictured), a Syrian national and U.S. lawful permanent resident, was “arrested in Miami on charges related to his alleged role in a scheme to bribe Venezuelan officials and launder funds to obtain contracts from Venezuela’s state-owned and state-controlled energy company, Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), and Venezuela’s state-owned and state-controlled food company that purchased food for Venezuela, Corporación de Abastecimiento y Servicios Agrícola (CASA).”

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