How did a high-stakes bribery scheme involving insider deals, Airbus planes, and secret payments bring down a global aviation giant?
In this episode, Michael Volkov dives deep into the AAR Corporation FCPA case—a cautionary...more
Despite a relatively slow year in OFAC sanctions enforcement, OFAC closed 2024 with a string of settlements in five cases, including its second in 2024 against an individual defendant. While OFAC had a slow year, DOJ...more
1/9/2025
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Compliance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
National Security ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Sanction Violations
AAR, a provider of aviation products and services, engaged in two separate bribery schemes. State-owned entities and government agencies permeate the aviation industry. As a result, FCPA risks are embedded in direct...more
1/8/2025
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Aviation Industry ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Fraud ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
White Collar Crimes
The Justice Department and the SEC finished 2024 with a coordinated resolution of criminal and civil FCPA charges against AAR Corporation, an Illinois-based provider of aviation products and services. In addition, DOJ...more
What went wrong when McKinsey paid bribes to secure consulting contracts with South Africa's state-owned enterprises?
In this episode, Michael Volkov dives into the December 2024 DOJ settlement with McKinsey & Company,...more
In a far-reaching criminal case, in November 2024, the Justice Department unsealed a complex, five-count indictment in the Eastern District of New York charging eight defendants, including Gautam S. Adani, Sagar R. Adani and...more
12/20/2024
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Statements ,
Fraud ,
India ,
Indictments ,
Misleading Statements ,
Public Contracts ,
Solar Energy ,
White Collar Crimes
The McKinsey FCPA case follows several other significant cases involving South Africa. ABB and SAP resolved FCPA cases involving bribes in South Africa; on the SEC front, Gartner resolved a bribery case involving South...more
On December 5, 2024, DOJ announced a settlement with McKinsey and Company for $122 million for bribes paid to South African government officials to secure valuable consulting contracts....more
12/18/2024
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Settlement ,
White Collar Crimes
The Department of Justice Antitrust Division’s is playing catch up to the Criminal Division on compliance leadership. DOJ’s Criminal Division has issued four separate revisions to its Evaluation of Corporate Compliance...more
12/17/2024
/ Antitrust Division ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Culture ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Electronic Communications ,
Government Investigations ,
Tone At The Top ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers ,
White Collar Crimes
What happens when a Chief Executive Officer becomes the architect of a global bribery scheme?
In this episode of Corruption, Crime, and Compliance, Michael Volkov delivers an in-depth analysis of the BIT Mining FCPA case —...more
In reviewing FCPA bribery fact patterns, it is a rare occasion when a company’s CEO is at the epicenter of the criminal conspiracy. In the BIT Mining case, standing atop all of the actors is the CEO Zhengming Pan, Bit...more
Earlier this year, Bit Mining and its CEO fell under the FCPA hammer. Bit Mining, formerly known as 500.com, resolved investigations with the Justice Department and the SEC for its corrupt scheme to bribe Japanese government...more
The Justice Department’s record of FCPA enforcement in 2024 has been disappointing. With all of the hoopla and pronouncements surrounding the global war against corruption, DOJ suggested that enforcement in 2023 and 2024...more
We should all admit something (among many things) — reading through factual statements of bribery offenses, the facts all start to meld together. Criminals are not as ingenuous or creative as they think, and the schemes they...more
Telefónica Venezolana C.A. (“Telefónica Venezolana”), the Venezuela-based subsidiary of Telefónica S.A. (Telefónica), the Spanish telecommunications company entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (“DPA”) and agreed to...more
The Justice Department is about to undergo some fundamental changes. The 2nd Trump Administration will take some initial broad strokes designed to increase accountability and control of prosecutors and laws enforcement....more
The 2nd Trump Administration will mean significant change in foreign policy, most especially the importance of ending the Russia-Ukraine war, increased focus on Iran and its proxies, and aggressive use of trade policies and...more
11/13/2024
/ China ,
Compliance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Controls ,
Imports ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Retaliation ,
Trump Administration ,
Ukraine ,
US Trade Policies
As the dust settles on the U.S. Election, companies are quickly analyzing the impact for businesses, federal civil and criminal enforcement priorities and the implications for ethics and compliance. When a new Administration...more
11/12/2024
/ Administrative Agencies ,
Compliance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Ethics ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration
How does a respected financial institution turn into a criminal operation? In this episode of Corruption, Crime, and Compliance, host Michael Volkov dives into the record-breaking $3 billion settlement between TD Bank and the...more
Raytheon’s criminal conduct cut across a variety of topics — it is difficult to imagine but Raytheon’s misconduct occurred in separate parts of the company, involving violations of different laws. Like most cases, I always...more
10/31/2024
/ Compliance ,
Corporate Culture ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Defense Sector ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Fraud ,
Leadership ,
Pricing ,
Raytheon
Raytheon Company (Raytheon) — a subsidiary of defense contractor, RTX (formerly known as Raytheon Technologies Corporation) — agreed to pay over $950 million to resolve the Justice Department’s investigations into: (i) a...more
10/29/2024
/ Arms Export Control Act ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Defense Sector ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Fraud ,
ITAR ,
Raytheon ,
Settlement ,
Statutory Violations
The SEC notched another FCPA settlement, continuing its steady pursuit and resolution of FCPA cases. In the meantime, the Justice Department has been silent in the FCPA enforcement arena. In its latest settlement, Moog,...more
The Justice Department's Antitrust Division has been aggressively pursuing civil enforcement actions. While criminal enforcement of antitrust laws has been depressed, DOJ has found success in pursuing civil and merger...more
“By making its services convenient for criminals, TD Bank became one,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. TD Bank joins the list of dysfunctional companies — add them to Wells Fargo, Wirecard, Volkswagen, General Motors,...more
10/16/2024
/ BSA/AML ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Culture ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Transactions ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Money Laundering
In yet another reminder of the scope of Justice Department enforcement powers, and an important demonstration of the risks of non-compliance, the Justice Department and relevant banking agencies announced a $3 billion...more
10/15/2024
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
BSA/AML ,
Compliance ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
FRB ,
Guilty Pleas ,
OCC ,
Popular ,
Statutory Violations ,
White Collar Crimes