Glencore Resolves An Approximately $443 Million Net FCPA Enforcement Action
In mid-2018 Glencore (a commodities company incorporated in the United Kingdom and headquartered in Switzerland disclosed that it was under scrutiny by the DOJ. (See here for the prior post).
Specifically, the company disclosed:
“Glencore Ltd, a subsidiary of Glencore plc, has received a subpoena dated 2 July, 2018 from the US Department of Justice to produce documents and other records with respect to compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and United States money laundering statutes. The requested documents relate to the Glencore Group’s business in Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Venezuela from 2007 to present. Glencore is reviewing the subpoena and will provide further information in due course as appropriate.”
Petrofac Resolves Bribery Act Enforcement Action
Petrofac (a U.K. based oil and gas company with ADRs registered with the SEC) has been under scrutiny since 2016 regarding its relationship with Unaoil. (See here for the prior post).
In 2019, the U.K. Serious Fraud Office announced that David Lufkin (the former Global Head of Sales for Petrofac International Ltd.) pleaded guilty to eleven counts of bribery related to “the making of corrupt offers to influence the award of contracts to Petrofac worth in excess of USD $730 million in Iraq and in excess of USD $3.5 billion in Saudi Arabia.” (See here).
Recently, the SFO announced that it has “secured the conviction of Petrofac Limited for seven separate counts of failure to prevent bribery between 2011 and 2017.”
Same General Script, As DOJ Charges Individual In Connection With Alleged Bribes In Venezuela
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).”
Former Glencore Trader Pleads Guilty To FCPA And Related Offense
As highlighted in this prior post, for approximately two years Glencore (a commodities company incorporated in the United Kingdom and headquartered in Switzerland with common stock that trades on the New York based over-the-counter market) has been under scrutiny for conduct in Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Venezuela (as well as perhaps other countries).
Earlier this week Anthony Stimler pleaded guilty to FCPA and money laundering offenses. Stimler is described as a United Kingdom citizen and resident who was a trader at a Glencore subsidiary who worked on the West Africa desk from in or around 2002 until in or around 2009 and then again from in or around June 2011 until in or around August 2019. According to the DOJ “In that role, Stimler had responsibility for crude oil purchases from, among other places, Nigeria, and acted on behalf of Company 1 [Glencore] in procuring crude oil from Nigeria.”
In summary fashion, the criminal information alleges:
Across The Pond, Amec Foster Wheeler / Wood Group Resolves £103 Million U.K. Enforcement Action
Previous posts here and here focused on the recent net $17.7 million FCPA enforcement action against Amec Foster Wheeler and John Wood Group concerning conduct in Brazil.
In a parallel enforcement action, the U.K. Serious Fraud Office also announced that Amec Foster Wheeler and John Wood Group will pay “a financial penalty and costs amounting to £103 million in the UK.”
The enforcement action involved a ten count Indictment. One count (Count 10) concerned the same Brazil conduct at issue in the FCPA enforcement action and charged failure to prevent bribery, contrary to section 7 of the Bribery Act 2010.
The other nine counts in the Indictment (concerning conduct in Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and India) charged conspiracy to make corrupt payments, contrary to section 1(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977 and section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906. The conduct at issue in these counts allegedly between 1996 and 2010 (in other words 11-25 years prior to the enforcement action).