As summarized in this recent post, in 2013, the DOJ criminally charged Lawrence Hoskins (a United Kingdom national and former senior vice president for the Asia region for France-based Alstom) with conspiracy to violate the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions among other charges. The conduct at issue alleged occurred between 2002 and 2004. Six years after being charged and approximately 15 years after the alleged conduct at issue took place, the Hoskins trial began in late October.
Earlier today, the DOJ announced that Hoskins “was found guilty … for his role in a multi-year, multimillion-dollar foreign bribery scheme and a related money laundering scheme.”
As stated in the DOJ’s release:
“After a two-week trial, Hoskins … was convicted of six counts of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), three counts of money laundering and two counts of conspiracy.
[…]
According to the evidence presented at trial, Hoskins was a senior vice president for Alstom’s International Network, who engaged in a conspiracy to pay bribes to officials in Indonesia – including a high-ranking member of the Indonesian Parliament and the President of Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), the state-owned and state-controlled electricity company in Indonesia – in exchange for assistance in securing a $118 million contract, known as the Tarahan project, for Alstom Power Inc. of Connecticut and its consortium partner, Marubeni Corporation, to provide power-related services for the citizens of Indonesia. To conceal the bribes, Hoskins and his co-conspirators retained two consultants purportedly to provide legitimate consulting services on behalf of Alstom Power Inc., in connection with the Tarahan project. The primary purpose of hiring the consultants was to conceal the bribes to Indonesian officials, the evidence showed.
The first consultant retained by Hoskins and other members of the conspiracy received hundreds of thousands of dollars in his Maryland bank account to be used to bribe the member of Parliament, the evidence showed. The consultant then transferred the bribe money to a bank account in Indonesia for the benefit of the official. According to emails admitted at trial, Hoskins and other co-conspirators discussed in detail the use of the first consultant to funnel bribes to the member of Parliament and the influence that the member of Parliament could exert over the Tarahan project, including referring to him as a “cashier.”
The trial evidence further showed that, in the fall of 2003, Hoskins and his co-conspirators determined that the first consultant was not effectively bribing key officials at PLN, who expressed concerns that the first consultant was just going to give them “pocket money” and “disappear” after Alstom Power Inc. won the project. As a result, the co-conspirators retained a second consultant to more effectively bribe PLN officials. Evidence revealed that Hoskins and his co-conspirators pressed Alstom Power Inc. to front-load the second consultant’s terms of payment in order to “get the right influence” due to upcoming elections. Hoskins and his co-conspirators were successful in securing the Tarahan project and subsequently made payments to the consultants for the purpose of bribing the Indonesian officials.”
According to the DOJ’s release, sentencing has been scheduled for Jan. 31, 2020, before U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton of the District of Connecticut.
It is likely that today’s development is not the final chapter in the Hoskins matter, merely the latest development. As indicated in this article, Christopher Morvillo (Hoskins lawyer) stated:
“Lawrence Hoskins is innocent of these charges, which relate to conduct by a British citizen that occurred more than 15 years ago entirely outside the U.S. We will continue to work tirelessly towards clearing Lawrence’s good name and allowing him to return to England to retire in peace.”
