For years there has been a public debate in Germany about corruption in the healthcare sector – not least because of the huge economical detriments. Experts estimate that corruption in the health care system causes damages of up to EUR 18 billion, which corresponds to ten percent of the entire healthcare expenditure. Of particular interest… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Industry Investigations
Subscribe to Industry Investigations RSS FeedPatrick Joseph, Haiti Teleco Defendant, Sentenced to Prison
Posted in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Haiti, TelecommunicationsOn July 6, 2012, Patrick Joseph was sentenced to one year and one day in prison, and ordered to forfeit $955,596.69, for his role in the Haiti Teleco bribery scheme. Joseph, a former Director General for telecommunications at the Republic of Haiti’s state-owned national telecommunications company, Telecommunications D’Haiti (Haiti Teleco), had been charged with one… Continue Reading
Magyar Telekom, Deutsche Telekom Settle FCPA-Related Actions
Posted in Commercial Bribery, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Germany, TelecommunicationsMagyar Telekom Plc and its majority owner Deutsche Telekom AG have agreed to pay a total of approximately $95 million in penalties arising from alleged violations of the anti-bribery and books and records provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) stemming from conduct in Macedonia and Montenegro. Conduct Between 2005 and 2006, former executives… Continue Reading
Haiti Teleco Defendant Receives Record-Breaking Sentence for FCPA Violations
Posted in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Haiti, TelecommunicationsAs detailed in a previous blog post, a federal jury convicted Joel Esquinazi and Carlos Rodriguez, two former executives of Terra Telecommunications Corp. (“Terra”), earlier this year on all counts for their roles in a scheme to pay bribes to Haitian government officials at the state-owned Telecommunications D’Haiti S.A.M (Haiti Teleco). Federal District Judge Jose… Continue Reading
Two Senior Executives Convicted In Haiti Teleco Bribes Case
Posted in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Haiti, TelecommunicationsFollowing a two week trial, on August 4, 2011, a federal jury convicted Joel Esquenazi and Carlos Rodriguez, former executives of Terra Telecommunications Corp. (“Terra”), on all counts for their roles in a scheme to pay bribes to Haitian government officials at the state-owned Telecommunications D’Haiti S.A.M (Haiti Teleco). The DOJ’s press release is here…. Continue Reading
Ex-CEO of Telecom Company Pleads Guilty In Honduras Bribe Case
Posted in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Honduras, TelecommunicationsLast week, Jorge Granados, former chief executive officer of Miami-based Latin Node, Inc. (Latinode) pleaded guilty to conspiring to pay bribes to government officials in Honduras. The DOJ press release is here. This is the latest chapter in the on-going saga of Latinode and its former executives who allegedly violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act… Continue Reading
FCPA Inspired Bribery Act To Hit Oil & Gas Industry Hardest
Posted in Oil & Gas, UK Bribery ActThe UK’s Bribery Act, scheduled to come into force on July 1, 2011, will have the most significant impact on the oil and gas industry, according to research by Ernst & Young. Ernst & Young’s findings are based on an analysis of bribery prosecutions under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) over the last… Continue Reading
Comverse Technologies Inc. and the DOJ and SEC Settle Up
Posted in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Industry Investigations, TelecommunicationsComverse Technologies Inc. (CTI), a New York based provider of software for communication and billing services, resolved Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement actions brought by the DOJ and SEC arising out of the acts of an indirectly owned overseas subsidiary and the subsidiary’s third party agent. CTI resolved the DOJ investigation via an NPA,… Continue Reading
Washington, London and Athens Come Calling for Johnson & Johnson
Posted in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Industry InvestigationsIn a sign of things to come, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and J&J wholly-owned subsidiaries Depuy, Inc. (DePuy) and DePuy International Limited (DePuy International) resolved corruption related investigations on both sides of the Atlantic on Friday, April 8. Conduct J&J, a New Jersey based issuer, resolved FCPA enforcement actions brought by the DOJ and SEC… Continue Reading
Has the DOJ’s Ship Sailed from Bonny Island?
Posted in Industry Investigations, Oil & GasWith the last member of the infamous TSKJ joint-venture resolving FCPA charges this week, has the DOJ finally closed the door on its very lucrative Bonny Island investigation? JGC, a Japanese company headquartered in Yokohama, Japan, resolved an FCPA enforcement action brought by the DOJ concerning JGC’s participation in the Bonny Island, Nigeria, bribery scheme. … Continue Reading
This is a Collect Call from The Department of Justice
Posted in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Industry Investigations, TelecommunicationsNot too long ago I was clicking through the greatly improved DOJ FCPA webpage when I stumbled onto an enforcement action that had flown under the anticorruption/compliance blogosphere’s radar. Yes, Manuel Salvoch had escaped the dreaded DOJ press release, but not the Fraud Section’s posting of documents for the world to see. It was only… Continue Reading
Bonny Island Keeps on Giving (to the US Treasury that is)
Posted in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Industry Investigations, Oil & GasOn Friday, March 11, Jeffrey Tesler, who had challenged extradition from the UK to the US, relented in his fight and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and one substantive violation of an FCPA antibribery provision. In 2009, the DOJ initially charged Tesler in an 11 count indictment consisting of… Continue Reading
The FCPA Green Room: Private Equity May Be Next
Posted in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Private EquityTo date, the SEC has never charged a private equity firm for the inappropriate conduct of one of its portfolio companies (the DOJ has been involved in a few investigations: see Vetco International Ltd.; Omega Advisors; and, Leo Winston Smith). However, with recent news of both internal and external bribery-related investigations into Allianz Capital Partners… Continue Reading
What to Look for in 2011
Posted in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Industry InvestigationsRecently, we wrote about the 2010 enforcement environment. Today’s post looks forward to 2011 and some things to keep an eye out for in the coming year. Without further ado: Prosecutions of Individuals. In 2010 we saw a significant number of individuals prosecuted for FCPA and related violations. A number of defendants resolved their prosecutions… Continue Reading
Breaking News: Another Possible FCPA Extradition from the UK.
Posted in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Industry InvestigationsWe had a different post planned for today (one on trends to look for in 2011, which include international cooperation), but the ruling of London appeals court takes priority. According to Law360, a London appeals court decided Jeffrey Tesler, a UK lawyer charged by the DOJ with paying more than $132 million from a former… Continue Reading
“We Are in a New Era of FCPA Enforcement”
Posted in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Industry Investigations, TelecommunicationsU.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Criminal Division Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer so stated at the American Conference Institute’s 24th National Conference on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) late last year. The recent actions of the DOJ and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the FCPA’s dual enforcers, backed up AAG Breuer’s words. The DOJ… Continue Reading
The Long Arm of the Law: Why non-US Companies Need to Comply with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
Posted in Industry Investigations, TelecommunicationsThe Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) has started garnering headlines around the world. It’s no wonder, considering the size of the fines and settlements extracted by the DOJ and SEC from non-U.S. companies in 2010 for violations of the FCPA. As of the date of this writing, eight of the top 10 largest settlements and… Continue Reading
The DOJ and SEC Close 2010 with an FCPA Bang!
Posted in Industry Investigations, TelecommunicationsThe DOJ and SEC Close 2010 with an FCPA Bang! The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) closed another Foreign Corrupt Practices Act record setting year — 75 FCPA enforcement actions resolved — with a bang. In late December, the U.S. enforcement agencies, Alcatel-Lucent S.A. and several of its subsidiaries resolved… Continue Reading