As highlighted in this prior post, in November 2017 the DOJ announced that Chi Ping Patrick Ho 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.
According to the DOJ: “[T]he defendants engaged in two bribery schemes to pay high-level officials of Chad and Uganda in exchange for business advantages for the Energy Company, a Shanghai-headquartered multibillion-dollar conglomerate that operates internationally in the energy and financial sectors.”
The DOJ’s release contained the following statements from enforcement officials:
“The Criminal Division is committed to investigating and prosecuting corrupt individuals who put at risk a level playing field for corporate competitiveness, regardless of where they live or work. Their bribes and corrupt acts hurt our economy and undermine confidence in the free marketplace.”
“International bribery not only harms legitimate businesses and fair competition, but it also destroys public faith in the integrity of government. And when this type of international corruption and bribery touches our shores and our financial system, as the alleged schemes did, federal criminal charges in an American court may very well be the end result.”
“The scheme described in this case boils down to these subjects allegedly trying to get their hands on the rights to lucrative opportunities in Africa. They were allegedly willing to throw money at the leaders of two countries to bypass the normal course of business, but didn’t realize that using the U.S. banking system would be their undoing.”
Last Friday, as the below filing demonstrates, the DOJ quietly dismissed criminal charges against Gadio.
Sean Hecker (Kaplan, Hecker & Fink) represented Gadio and provided the following statement:
“We are extremely grateful that the case against Dr. Gadio has been brought to a just resolution. Dr. Gadio looks forward to continuing to cooperate with US authorities before returning to Senegal to continue his service to the Senegalese people and the important pursuit of establishing peace and security across the Sahel Region.”
In other news (a development that the DOJ wants the public to know about because it issued a press release) the DOJ announced in connection with the PDVSA bribery scheme that keeps on giving (see here, here and here for prior posts):
“A former manager of a U.S.-based logistics and freight forwarding company [Juan Carlos Castillo Rincon] pleaded guilty to a foreign bribery charge … for his role in a scheme to corruptly secure contracts and contract extensions from Venezuela’s state-owned and state-controlled energy company, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA). The guilty plea of the foreign official who was bribed [Jose Orlando Camacho] was also unsealed …”.
According to the DOJ:
“Castillo was arrested in Miami on April 19, after a federal grand jury returned a five-count indictment against him. According to admissions made in connection with Castillo’s plea, beginning in or around 2011 and continuing through at least 2013, Castillo, a manager at a Houston-based logistics and freight forwarding company, conspired with others to bribe a PDVSA official in exchange for the official providing assistance in connection with the company’s business with PDVSA. In exchange for bribe payments, the PDVSA official assisted the company in obtaining PDVSA contracts, contract extensions and favorable contract terms; provided Castillo with inside information concerning the PDVSA bidding process; and supported the company in internal PDVSA meetings regarding purchasing decisions.”
[…]
With Castillo’s plea … and the unsealing of Camacho’s plea, the Justice Department has announced charges against 18 individuals, 14 of whom have pleaded guilty, as part of a larger, ongoing investigation by the U.S. government into bribery at PDVSA.”
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