In an ironic twist (or you just can’t make this up moment, whichever you prefer), the Justice Department announced the arrest of Charles McGonigal, the former Special Agent in Charge (“SAC”) of the FBI’s Counterintelligence...more
2/1/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Falsified Documents ,
FBI ,
Foreign Policy ,
Indictments ,
Money Laundering ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Ukraine ,
White Collar Crimes
The Department of Justice announced revisions to its Corporate Enforcement Policy (“CEP”) yet again in order to promote voluntary disclosures by Companies that discover potential wrongdoing. DOJ’s latest action demonstrated...more
OFAC closed out 2022 with a late-night $4.3 million settlement with Danfoss A/S, a Danish manufacturer of refrigeration and cooling products for violations of the Iran, Syria and Sudan sanctions programs. OFAC has had a...more
I always enjoy pulling out the crystal ball and looking forward with due consideration of last year’s trends. It is a perspective that gives us all the opportunity to identify important trends and to set an agenda for the...more
DOJ closed out its FCPA enforcement year in 2022 with two significant settlements, the ABB and Honeywell cases. Aside from these two big settlements, there was a flurry of other actions in the last quarter of 2022....more
1/13/2023
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Declination ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ericsson ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Government Officials ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Money Laundering ,
White Collar Crimes
The Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission bounced back in 2022 to restore their records for aggressive FCPA enforcement. At the same time, DOJ announced significant new compliance program...more
1/10/2023
/ Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
White Collar Crimes
The Honeywell FCPA settlement underscored a number of important issues – lessons learned for compliance professionals. Every FCPA case carries important lessons learned, but some more than others....more
The facts surrounding Honeywell’s bribery schemes in Brazil and Algeria are fairly straightforward. In Brazil, the facts underscore the significant risks of bribery when companies participate in large, valuable project...more
The Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission had a strong FCPA enforcement year. However, there is certainly more to come and it is easy to predict that 2023 will be even a bigger year....more
Following FTX’s stunning collapse, federal prosecutors have quickly taken steps to hold FTX’s founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (“SBF”) accountable. On December 13, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced a criminal...more
12/19/2022
/ Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Indictments ,
Misappropriation ,
Trading Platforms ,
White Collar Crimes
Contrary to the often-repeated narrative, the Justice Department is transparent about its enforcement plans and compliance expectations. Since the issuance of the FCPA Guidance in 2012, DOJ has continued to provide guidance...more
12/12/2022
/ 1MDB ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
FCPA Guidance ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Russia ,
Uber ,
Ukraine ,
White Collar Crimes
The ABB case, like most significant FCPA enforcement actions, sets important precedent and policy reminders. With time, and looking back, ABB gives companies with a prior criminal history a way forward to seek a fair...more
12/8/2022
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Compliance Monitoring ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Piling-On ,
South Africa ,
White Collar Crimes
The details of bribery schemes are invaluable for learning how criminals think – bribery always requires some scheme to transfer money from the organization to fund bribery payments to a government official(s). Compliance...more
The Justice Department’s new Corporate Enforcement Policy and the heightened enforcement and compliance expectations were put to the test in its announcement of a $315 million settlement of bribery charges with ABB, a...more
Each FCPA case provides valuable lessons in the mechanics of bribery schemes and the common techniques used by violators to secure funds and make illegal payments to foreign government officials. Criminal violators often act...more
11/22/2022
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Ghana ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Indictments ,
White Collar Crimes
Talk about a reminder of the past, Asante Berko, a former Executive Director in Goldman Sachs, recently was arrested in London on criminal FCPA charges arising from his involvement in a bribery scheme in Ghana....more
11/21/2022
/ Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Ghana ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Indictments ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
White Collar Crimes
In yet another indication of the renewed, aggressive antitrust enforcement program, the Justice Department recently announced the first attempted criminal monopolization case in decades — Nathan Nephi Zito, the president of a...more
We always focus on foreign bribery — the FCPA and corporate bribery of foreign officials. It is certainly a problem that undermines economic development and human rights. ...more
11/10/2022
/ Bribery ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Healthcare ,
Incentives ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Physicians ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Regulatory Violations ,
White Collar Crimes
The Department of Justice is pushing its commitment to voluntary disclosure programs. Companies, however, are not lining up at DOJ’s door. The balance between sitting tight or voluntary disclosures requires care....more
The Department of Justice and many regulatory agencies have rolled out the red carpet for companies to cross the threshold and voluntarily disclose criminal conduct in the hopes of gaining leniency, immunity and reduced fines...more
The Justice Department promised aggressive enforcement of export controls and sanctions against Russia. To that end, DOJ initiated the KleptoCapture task force to focus law enforcement investigations of export violators. ...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s bread-and-butter enforcement actions focus on accounting fraud. The SEC has a long history in uncovering fraudulent financial reporting schemes. In the early 2000s, Wall Street was...more
The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued its final rules implementing the beneficial ownership reporting requirements pursuant to the bipartisan Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”). The...more
10/7/2022
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
FinCEN ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
White Collar Crimes
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) has demonstrated its ability to multi-task — designing, implementing and enforcing a comprehensive sanctions regime against Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, and maintaining...more
Oracle Corporation settled its second FCPA case in ten years. Oracle agreed to pay $23 million to resolve allegations that its subsidiaries in Turkey, India and the United Arab Emirates maintained slush funds to bribe...more