News and commentary about white-collar crime, enforcement, and compliance
Harry Cassin
Publisher and Editor
Andy Spalding
Senior Editor
Jessica Tillipman
Senior Editor
Bill Steinman
Senior Editor
Richard L. Cassin
Editor at Large
Elizabeth K. Spahn
Editor Emeritus
Cody Worthington
Contributing Editor
Julie DiMauro
Contributing Editor
Thomas Fox
Contributing Editor
Marc Alain Bohn
Contributing Editor
Bill Waite
Contributing Editor
Russell A. Stamets
Contributing Editor
Richard Bistrong
Contributing Editor
Eric Carlson
Contributing Editor
A Bloomberg story today in Business Week here says Daimler AG will pay “about $200 million and two subsidiaries will plead guilty to resolve a U.S. investigation into whether it paid bribes to secure business overseas, according to people familiar with the accord.”… Continue Reading
French company Technip said on Friday in its fourth quarter earnings release that it has reserved €245 million for an exceptional charge related to a potential settlement of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act offenses with the Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission for its role in the TSKJ Nigeria joint venture.… Continue Reading
The shot-show arrests (see our posts here) have raised lots of questions about FCPA enforcement and prosecution. In a post here, for example, we wondered if the government’s argument that the 22 defendants were part of a single conspiracy might open the door for the entrapment defense, particularly because some defense counsel in the case have said their clients didn’t know each other.… Continue Reading
DOJ Release February 10, 2010 — A Virginia resident pleaded guilty today in connection with his role in a conspiracy to pay bribes to former Panamanian government officials.
John W. Warwick, 64, of Virginia Beach, Va.,… Continue Reading
Judge William K. Sessions III, chief judge for the federal district of Vermont since July 2002. He chairs the six-member United States Sentencing Commission. Under proposed amendments to the federal sentencing guidelines, corporations could get a break on fines and other penalties for white collar crimes committed by top executives.… Continue Reading
Like many people, we’re tempted to bash the Serious Fraud Office. Its reluctance to pursue BAE — despite the company’s outrageous selling practices and offensive attitude — generated strong emotions over the years.… Continue Reading
John Weston: BAE’s former chief executive lied to the U.S. government about the company’s compliance with the FCPA.At the heart of the DOJ’s one-count criminal information that BAE pleaded guilty to on Friday is the al-Yamamah contract — an $80 billion deal signed in the mid-1980s for the sale of jet fighters to Saudi Arabia.… Continue Reading
British arms-maker BAE Systems plc reached a simultaneous settlement today of bribery allegations with the U.K.’s Serious Fraud Office and the U.S. Justice Department. In its release, the company said:
… Continue ReadingUnder the agreement with the Department of Justice, which requires court approval, the Company will plead guilty to one charge of conspiring to make false statements to the U.S.
Ken Silverstein’s report on this week’s Senate hearings about foreign rulers moving huge chunks of money to the U.S. is here.
For Silverstein, Harper’s Washington editor and writer of the online Washington Babylon, the Senate investigation is a personal triumph.… Continue Reading
In Washington on Wednesday, 19 of the 22 defendants named in the FCPA mega-bust pleaded not guilty. The remaining three defendants are in custody and expected to appear in court soon.… Continue Reading
Jack Grynberg: “I have been pursuing fraud in the energy industry for the past 15 years.”Colorado-based independent oilman Jack Grynberg filed a 311-page complaint in December with the European Commission.… Continue Reading
Austrian national Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly: BAE’s agent has been charged in Britain with corruption but his prosecution still needs approval from the U.K.’s attorney general.The U.K.’s Serious Fraud Office on Friday charged one of BAE’s former middlemen, Count Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly, with bribery in connection with arms sales to countries in Eastern and Central Europe.… Continue Reading