SFO Expands Innospec Prosecution

The U.K. Serious Fraud Office last week charged a former sales director from Innospec with corruption relating to contracts in Indonesia.

Miltos Papachristos, 48, became the third Innospec executive to be charged by the SFO. The dual citizen of Greece and the U.K. allegedly gave or promised to give bribes to Indonesian government officials to sell Innospec’s gasoline additive.

In London last month, Innospec director David Turner, 56, pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiring to bribe public officials in Indonesia and Iraq. The court didn’t set a date for his sentencing.

Turner, a U.K. citizen, settled civil charges with the U.S. SEC in 2010. He disgorged $40,000 and wasn’t required to pay any further civil penalty.

Two other Innospec executives, Dennis Kerrison and Paul Jennings, have also been charged with criminal offenses in the U.K. Their next court appearance for a plea will be in April.

In 2010, Delaware-based Innospec reached a $40 million global settlement of more than a dozen criminal charges in the U.S. and U.K., including FCPA and U.N. oil for food program offenses. It had also violated the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba.

Ousama Naaman, Innospec’s agent in Iraq, was sentenced in the U.S. to thirty months in prison last year. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy and violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He’s the only individual to face U.S. criminal prosecution in the Innospec case.

In the U.K. action, the court granted Papachristos unconditional bail. He’s scheduled to appear at Southwark Crown Court with the other defendants in April.

View the SFO’s news release here.