Airbus agreed to pay more than $3.9 billion in combined penalties for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, the Justice Department said. The bribery charges, levied by U.S., French and United Kingdom authorities, stem from Airbus’ scheme to bribe non-governmental airline executives and government officials, including officials in China, to retain aircraft contracts.
An Ecuadorian businessman pleaded guilty Jan. 23 to violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act after he was involved in a $4.4 million bribery scheme with Ecuador’s state-owned oil company, the Justice Department said in a press release. Armengol Alfonso Cevallos Diaz worked with others to bribe officials at Empresa Pública de Hidrocarburos del Ecuador (PetroEcuador) through U.S. companies and bank accounts, the agency said. Diaz helped launder the money through Miami-based shell companies, soliciting bribes from an oil services company for PetroEcuador officials, the press release said. Sentencing is scheduled for April 2, 2020.
A Venezuelan lawyer and businessman was added to the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s most-wanted list for conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and money laundering-related charges, ICE said in a Jan. 15 press release. Raul Antonio De La Santisima Trinidad Gorrin Belisario paid millions in bribes to two “high-level” Venezuelan officials to conduct foreign currency exchange transactions at “favorable” rates for the Venezuelan government, ICE said. In addition to the bribes, Belisario also paid the officials’ expenses for private jets, yachts, homes, “champion horses,” watches and a “fashion line,” the press release said. Belisario made the payments through shell companies to hide the transactions. He also partnered with others to acquire Banco Peravia, a Dominican Republic-based bank, to launder bribes paid to the officials. Belisario is a Miami resident and a Venezuela citizen. He remains at large.
A part-owner of a Florida energy company was sentenced to two years in prison for conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Justice Department said Jan. 8. Juan Jose Hernandez Comerma tried to corruptly secure contracts from Petroleos de Venezuela,S.A. (see 1910210065), Venezuela’s state-owned and U.S.-sanctioned energy company, the Justice Department said. Hernandez conspired with two other U.S. businessmen to bribe PdVSA “purchasing analysts,” the agency said. The bribes ensured their companies were placed on PdVSA’s “bidding panels,” the Justice Department said, which allowed them to secure “lucrative energy contracts.” Hernandez provided PdVSA officials with “recreational travel and entertainment” based on the percentage of contracts awarded to his company.
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The Justice Department announced three “key changes” for companies that submit voluntary disclosures of export controls and sanctions violations, the agency said in a Dec. 13 press release. The changes emphasize voluntary disclosures and lean toward rewards for companies that cooperate with the Justice Department through non-prosecution agreements and “significant” reductions in penalties, the press release said.
Telefonaktiebtolaget LM Ericsson, a multinational telecommunications company based in Sweden, was fined more than $1 billion for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Justice Department said in a Dec. 6 press release. The penalty, stemming from a scheme to bribe government officials and falsify records, includes more than $520 million in criminal penalties and a $540 million penalty owed to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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The former president of a Maryland transportation company was found guilty of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act after bribing an official at Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation, the Justice Department said Nov. 22. Mark Lambert, former president of Transportation Logistics Inc. (TLI), was found guilty of four counts of violating the FCPA, one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and other fraud-related charges.
Samsung Heavy Industries Company will pay more than $75 million to settle charges that it bribed Brazilian government officials in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Justice Department said Nov. 22. The South Korea-based engineering company agreed to split its settlement in two payments of $37,740,800 to the U.S. and to Brazilian authorities, the Justice Department said.