Leidos is a Virginia headquartered information technology, engineering, and science solutions and services company that serves the defense, intelligence, homeland security, civil and health markets. Last fiscal year it generated 87% of its revenue from U.S. government contracts and its customer list includes the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Intelligence Community, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs and many other U.S. civilian, state and local government agencies.
Leidos was honored in 2021 as an Ethisphere “World’s Most Ethical Company”
As highlighted in this prior post, in February 2022 Leidos disclosed:
“Through its internal processes, the Company discovered, in late 2021, activities by its employees, third party representatives and subcontractors, raising concerns related to a portion of our business that conducts international operations. The Company is conducting an internal investigation, overseen by an independent committee of the Board of Directors, with the assistance of external legal counsel, to determine whether the identified conduct may have violated the Company’s Code of Conduct and potentially applicable laws, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”). The Company has voluntarily self-reported this investigation to the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission and is cooperating with both agencies. Because the investigation is ongoing, the Company cannot anticipate the timing, outcome or possible impact of the investigation, although violations of the FCPA and other applicable laws may result in criminal and civil sanctions, including monetary penalties, and reputational damage.”
In November 2022 Leidos disclosed:
“Through its internal processes, the Company discovered, in late 2021, activities by its employees, third party representatives and subcontractors, raising concerns related to a portion of our business that conducts international operations. The Company is conducting an internal investigation, overseen by an independent committee of the Board of Directors, with the assistance of external legal counsel, to determine whether the identified conduct may have violated the Company’s Code of Conduct and potentially applicable laws, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”). The Company has voluntarily self-reported this investigation to the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission and is cooperating with both agencies. Because the investigation is ongoing, the Company cannot anticipate the timing, outcome or possible impact of the investigation, although violations of the FCPA and other applicable laws may result in criminal and civil sanctions, including monetary penalties, and reputational damage. In September 2022, the Company received a Federal Grand Jury Subpoena related to the criminal investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Fraud Division. The subpoena requests documents relating to the conduct that is the subject of the Company’s internal investigation. The Company is in the process of responding to the subpoena.
Yesterday, Leidos disclosed:
“Through its internal processes, the Company discovered, in late 2021, activities by its employees, third party representatives and subcontractors, raising concerns related to a portion of our business that conducts international operations. The Company is conducting an internal investigation, overseen by an independent committee of the Board of Directors, with the assistance of external legal counsel, to determine whether the identified conduct may have violated the Company’s Code of Conduct and potentially applicable laws, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”). The Company has voluntarily self-reported this investigation to the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission and is cooperating with both agencies. Because the investigation is ongoing, the Company cannot anticipate the timing, outcome or possible impact of the investigation, although violations of the FCPA and other applicable laws may result in criminal and civil sanctions, including monetary penalties, and reputational damage. In September 2022, the Company received a Federal Grand Jury Subpoena related to the criminal investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Fraud Section. The subpoena requests documents relating to the conduct that is the subject of the Company’s internal investigation. The Company is in the process of responding to the subpoena.”
If you are scoring at home, yesterday’s disclosure by Leidos is exactly the same as the company’s disclosure three months ago.
Should the process of responding to a subpoena really take approximately six months?
Going back even further, given the actual words used in the company’s original disclosure, why (other than that the DOJ wants companies to do so) would a company disclose an investigation to the government when the investigation is to “determine whether the identified conduct may have violated” the law?
