Unsuccessful Bribery Schemes Archives

SEC Extracts $15 Million From Rio Tinto In First Corporate Enforcement Action Of 2023

By Mike Koehler on March 7, 2023 in 2023 Enforcement Action, Foreign Issuers, Guinea, Mining Industry, Political Contributions, Rio Tinto, SEC Enforcement Action, Third Parties, Unsuccessful Bribery Schemes

In the minds of some (including former FCPA enforcement officials – see here), Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement is a convenient cash cow for the U.S. government.

Those who believe this will find new support in the first corporate FCPA enforcement action of 2023.

The basic findings are as follows.

Approximately 12 years ago, Rio Tinto (a metal and mining company with headquarters in Australia and the United Kingdom) hired a French investment banker and close friend of a former senior Guinean government official as a consultant to help the company retain mining rights in Guinea.

Even though both Australia and the United Kingdom have laws and law enforcement resources to adequately address the conduct at issue, the U.S. nevertheless extracted $15 million from Rio Tinto because the company had American Depository Shares that traded on a U.S. exchange.

Deutsche Bank Joins The Repeat Offender Club By Resolving Second FCPA Enforcement In Just 16 Months

By Mike Koehler on January 11, 2021 in 2021 Enforcement Actions, Abu Dhabi, China, Deutsche Bank, Financial Services Industry, Foreign Issuers, Internal Controls, Italy, Repeat Offenders, Saudi Arabia, Third Parties, Unsuccessful Bribery Schemes

In August 2019, Deutsche Bank paid $16.2 million “to settle changes that it violated the FCPA by hiring relatives of foreign government officials [in both the Asia Pacific Region and Russia] in order to improperly influence them in connection with investment banking business).” (See here and here for prior posts).

Late Friday, Deutsche Bank (a German investment bank and financial services company with shares traded on the NYSE between 2009 and 2016) joined the ever expanding list of FCPA repeat offenders as the DOJ and SEC announced (here and here) an approximate $122.6 million Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action focused on the company’s relationship with third parties in Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Italy, and China.

The approximate 16 month gap between Deutsche Bank’s FCPA enforcement actions is the shortest among the large group of FCPA repeat offenders.

The DOJ’s First FCPA DPA Involved Monsanto

By Mike Koehler on March 24, 2020 in 2005 Enforcement Actions, Agriculture Industry, Anything of Value, Charles Martin, DOJ Enforcement Action, Gifts, Indonesia, Invoice Scheme, Monsanto, SEC Enforcement Action, Travel and Entertainment, Unsuccessful Bribery Schemes

[This post is part of a periodic series regarding “old” FCPA enforcement actions]

In early January 2005, the DOJ used a deferred prosecution agreement for the first time to resolve a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action. The “guinea pig” was Monsanto.

This post highlights the DOJ and parallel SEC enforcement action against the company (aggregate settlement amount of $1.5 million) based on conduct in Indonesia.

Issues To Consider From The MTS Enforcement Action

By Mike Koehler on March 14, 2019 in FCPA Statistics, Gray Cloud, Mobile TeleSystems, MTS Systems, Unsuccessful Bribery Schemes

This previous post went in-depth into the recent Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action against Russia-based MTS for bribing alleged Uzbekistan telecom officials. As highlighted in this prior post, the overall $850 million FCPA settlement amount is the largest in history.

This post continues the analysis by highlighting additional issues to consider.

Timeline

Ho Convicted Of FCPA And Related Offenses

By Mike Koehler on December 6, 2018 in Chad, Charitable Contributions, Chi Ping Patrick Ho, FCPA Trial, FCPA Trials, Financial Services Industry, Joint Venture, Oil and Gas Industry, Political Contributions, Uganda, Unsuccessful Bribery Schemes

As highlighted in this previous post, in November 2017 Chi Ping Patrick Ho (pictured) and Cheikh Gadio were criminally charged with conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, violating the FCPA, conspiring to commit international money laundering, and committing international money laundering in connection with alleged bribery schemes in Chad and Uganda on behalf of China Energy Fund Committee, an entity funded by CEFC China Energy Company Ltd.

In July 2018, Ho’s motion to dismiss was denied (see here), in September 2018 the DOJ quietly dismissed charges against Gadio (see here), and in late November Ho’s trial began with Gadio as a primary DOJ witness.

Yesterday, the DOJ announced that after a one week trial a federal jury found Ho guilty of one count of conspiring to violate the FCPA, four counts of violating the FCPA, one count of conspiring to commit international money laundering and one count of committing international money laundering.

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SEC Extracts $15 Million From Rio Tinto In First Corporate Enforcement Action Of 2023

Deutsche Bank Joins The Repeat Offender Club By Resolving Second FCPA Enforcement In Just 16 Months

The DOJ’s First FCPA DPA Involved Monsanto

Issues To Consider From The MTS Enforcement Action

Ho Convicted Of FCPA And Related Offenses

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