From the dockets, cleared, when the dust settles, outreach, and quotable. It’s all here in the Friday roundup.
From the Dockets
Sigelman
This recent post highlighted the motion to dismiss filed by Joseph Sigelman. Among other things, Sigelman challenged the DOJ’s interpretation and application of the “foreign official” element in regards to Ecopetrol, the alleged “the state-owned and state-controlled petroleum company in Colombia.”
On December 30th, U.S. District Judge Joseph Irenas denied the motion (as well as addressed other motions) in a 1 page order.
Hoskins
This recent post highlighted the motion to dismiss filed by Lawrence Hoskins. Among other things, the motion argued that the indictment “charges stale and time-barred conduct that occurred more than a decade ago; it asserts violations of U.S. law by a British citizen who never stepped foot on U.S. soil during the relevant time period; and, it distorts the definition of the time-worn legal concept of agency beyond recognition.”
In this December 29th ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Janet Arterton (D. Conn.) denied the motion to dismiss concluding that factual issues remain as to the disputed issues.
Cleared
Remember Kazuo Okada and Universal Entertainment Corp. They were at the center of a boardroom battle royal with Wynn Resorts in which a Wynn sanctioned report stated:
“Mr. Okada, his associates and companies appear to have engaged in a longstanding practice of making payments and gifts to his two (2) chief gaming regulators at the Philippines Amusement and Gaming Corporation (“PAGCOR”), who directly oversee and regulate Mr. Okada’s Provisional Licensing Agreement to operate in that country. Since 2008, Mr. Okada and his associates have made multiple payments to and on behalf of these chief regulators, former PAGCOR Chairman Efraim Genuino and Chairman Cristino Naguiat (his current chief regulator), their families and PAGCOR associates, in an amount exceeding $110,000.” The report categorizes this conduct as “prima facie violations” of the FCPA.
Universal recently issued this release which states:
“The Prosecutor General of the Philippines has proposed to the Secretary of Justice to terminate the investigation into the groundless suspicion that our group may have offered bribes to officials of Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation …”.
When The Dust Settles
It is always interesting to see what happens when the dust settles from an FCPA enforcement action (see here for the prior post).
A portion of the recent Alstom enforcement action alleged improper payments in connection with power projects with the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (“BEC”), the state-owned and state-controlled power company.
According to the Nassau Guardian “Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson said The Bahamas has requested information from the US regarding the allegations, including the identity of the alleged bribe taker.”
This follow-up report states:
“Former Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) board member Philip Beneby said on Tuesday he would find it hard to believe that any member of the board accepted bribes from a French power company to swing BEC contracts its way. […] “The allegation is stating that a member of the board received some kickback, but it’s kind of strange to me that a member of the board would receive a kickback if the board unanimously agreed that the contract be awarded to Hanjung out of Korea, then only to find out later that the Cabinet overturned the board’s decision. So that decision to not award Hanjung from Korea the contract came from the Cabinet, not from the board.” According to Beneby and former minister with responsibility for BEC, Bradley Roberts, in 2000 the board of BEC unanimously voted to award a generator contract to Hanjung Co. out of South Korea, but that decision was overturned by the then Ingraham Cabinet, which decided to award the contract to Alstom (then ABB). […] Former deputy prime minister Frank Watson was the minister at the time responsible for BEC. He said the decision to award the contract to Alstom was a Cabinet decision that involved no bribery. Watson insisted he was unaware of any claims that a bribe had been paid with respect to the award of that particular contract. Beneby, who is the proprietor of Courtesy Supermarket, said he remembers the event quite well as it was the first time a board decision was overturned.”
As explored in this prior post, many FCPA enforcement actions assume an actual casual link between alleged payments and obtaining or retaining business. However, the reality is that such a casual link is not always present.
Outeach
This event notice from the New England Chapter of the National Defense Industrial Association caught my eye.
“FBI Seminar on FCPA and International Corruption: Outreach to Industry Education Session
Join us for an engaging morning seminar to learn how to be compliant with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The FBI’s International Corruption Unit (ICU) is conducting private sector outreach and education to support a new initiative. The FBI recognizes the importance of forging new partnerships and strengthening existing relationships to help level the playing field for US businesses competing internationally. By fostering better understanding of FCPA requirements, the FBI and private sector can join forces more efficiently to fight international corruption and ensure fair global markets and a strong US economy.
The FBI is excited to showcase five pillars of FCPA compliance in their program: Private Sector Outreach, Training and Education, Dedicated Personnel, Domestic and International Partnerships and Proactive Enterprise Theory Investigations. Utilizing the five pillars approach, the FBI is gaining new momentum and expertise.
Additionally, the FBI will discuss new analysis outlining bribery hotspots and trends. Using charts and graphs the FBI will examine the latest bribe payment techniques, who is paying bribes and who is accepting bribes. Specific regions of the world will be discussed along with the various risks associated with doing business in these areas.
Lastly, the FBI will present a guest speaker who violated the FCPA, cooperated with the FBI and eventually was incarcerated for his crimes. This segment will provide a unique and impactful insight into the rationalization of an employee who paid bribes, despite knowledge and training on FCPA.The FBI is looking forward to the opportunity to discuss best practices and enhance FCPA compliance with industry partners”
Quotable
This recent Forbes article ask “isn’t it strange that the U.S. gets to fine Alstom, a French company, for bribery not in the U.S.?” The article concludes:
“It’s most certainly not good economics that one court jurisdiction gets to fine companies from all over the world on fairly tenuous grounds. Who would really like it if Russia’s legal system extended all the way around the world? Or North Korea’s? And I’m pretty sure that the non-reciprocity isn’t good public policy either. Eventually it’s going to start getting up peoples’ noses and they’ll be looking for ways to punish American companies in their own jurisdictions under their own laws. And there won’t be all that much that the U.S. can honestly do to complain about it, given their previous actions.”
That is pretty much what Senator Christopher Coons said during the November 2010 Senate FCPA hearing. “”Today we the only nation that is extending extraterritorial reach and going after the citizens of other countries, we may someday find ourselves on the receiving end of such transnational actions.”
In a recent speech, Stuart Alford QC (Joint Head of Fraud at the Serious Fraud Office) addressed the following question: “why have there been no Bribery Act prosecutions; is this Act really being taken seriously?” In response to his own question, Alford stated, in pertinent part:
“The Bribery Act is not retrospective. Therefore, for conduct to be criminal under the Act it has to have been undertaken after 1 July 2011. Often conduct of this type takes some time to surface; and, once it does, it takes time to investigate. SFO cases must, by definition, be serious or complex and they very often include international parties and conduct. While the SFO is always striving to investigate criminal conduct in as timely a way as possible, these types of cases will take some time to move through the process of investigation and on to prosecution.
The Bribery Act represented a very significant shift in setting the standards for the more ethical corporate culture I referred to a moment ago. When one looks at legislation of this kind, both here and abroad, one can see that a flow of prosecutions can take time to develop. We only have to look at the 1977 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in the USA, to see that it took many years for that work to build up a head of steam, and not really until the turn of the century did we start to see the level of prosecutions that we do now.”
Spot-on and consistent with my own observations on July 1, 2011 when the Bribery Act went live.
Top Book Review
International Policy Digest recently compiled its top book reviews of 2014. On the list is the following.
Review of Mike Koehler’s ‘The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in the New Era’
By John Giraudo
If you care about the rule of law, ‘The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in the New Era’ by Mike Koehler, is one of the most important books you can read—to learn how it is being eroded. Professor Koehler’s book may not make it to the top of any summer reading list, but it is a must read for people who care about law reform.
For more information on the book, see here.
*****
A good weekend to all.
