The FCPA Fugitive List (September 2012)

Since we started tracking FCPA fugitives (like a blog — not like a U.S. Marshal), a lot has happened.

Several names came off the original FCPA fugitives list and new ones have been added.

Coming off the list are:

• Ousama Naaman, a Canadian and Lebanese citizen. He was Innospec’s agent in Iraq. After he was extradited from Germany, he pleaded guilty in late 2010 and is now serving a 30-month sentence at the federal prison in Allenwood, Pennsylvania.

• Flavio Ricotti, an Italian citizen, was also extradited from Germany. The former vice president for sales of Control Components Inc. pleaded guilty last year to a single count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the Travel Act. He’s waiting to be sentenced.

• Jeffrey Tesler of the U.K. lost his fight there against extradition. The former KBR middleman and London lawyer is now serving a 21-month sentence at the federal prison inside Fort Dix, New Jersey.

• Wojciech Chodan, a British and Polish citizen and salesman for a KBR affiliate, dropped his fight against extradition from the U.K. and pleaded guilty in 2010 to one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA. He was sentenced to unsupervised probation for a year and allowed to leave the United States.

• Viktor Kozeny, Czech-born but reportedly holding an Irish passport, left the FCPA fugitive list this year. The U.K. Privy Council said he can’t be extradited from the Bahamas to face FCPA charges in the U.S. Kozeny was the accused mastermind in a huge 1990’s bribery scheme in Azerbaijan, for which Frederic Bourke was convicted in 2009 on a conspiracy count.

• Enrique Faustino Aguilar Noriega, a Mexican citizen, was indicted with his wife, Angela Aguilar, and the Lindsey Manufacturing defendants. Noriega never came to the U.S. to face trial. His wife was arrested in Houston. She and the Lindsey defendants were cleared last year when the judge threw out their jury convictions because of prosecutorial misconduct. The DOJ dropped its appeal against the dismissal and ended efforts to extradite Noriega.

Who are the current FCPA fugitives?

From Siemens Argentina, eight men were indicted in 2011 for FCPA violations. They’re currently living in Argentina, Germany, or Switzerland:

• Uriel Sharef, a former member of the central executive committee of Siemens AG

• Herbert Steffen, a former chief executive officer of Siemens Argentina

• Andres Truppel, a former chief financial officer of Siemens Argentina

• Ulrich Bock, former senior executives of Siemens Business Services

• Stephan Signer, former senior executives of Siemens Business Services

• Eberhard Reichert, former senior executives of Siemens Business Services,

• Carlos Sergi, agent of Siemens

• Miguel Czysch, agent of Siemens

And from our original fugitive list and still at large are:

• Edgar Valverde Acosta, Costa Rican, Alcatel’s former senior country officer there. Superseding indictment issued March 2007. Has served jail time in Costa Rica for corruption.

• Ricardo G. Beltran, Mexican, also associated with Grupo Delta. Indicted 1982. Last known location: Mexico.

• Rami Dotan, Israeli, air force officer. Indicted 1994. Last known location: Israel. The brigadier-general in charge of Israeli air force procurement was court martialed in Israel in 1991 and convicted along with two others of bribery, fraud, and theft for skimming at least $10 million from jet engine contracts with General Electric in the U.S. He was demoted to private and sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment. Released in 2003.

• Mario S. Gonzalez, Mexican, associated with Grupo Delta, a Mexican corporation acting as intermediary to Pemex. Indicted 1982. Last known location: Mexico.

• Pablo Barquero Hernandez, Costa Rican, employed by Owl Securities and Investment Ltd. Indicted 2001. Last known location: Costa Rica.

• Harold Katz, an Israeli and U.S. citizen, Israeli lawyer. Indicted 1994 (with Rami Dotan, above). Last known location: Israel.

• Frerik Pluimers, Dutch, chairman, former president and CEO of Saybolt International. Indicted for FCPA violations in 1998. Also wanted on environmental. Last known location: the Netherlands.

• James “Ken” Tillery, American, executive of Willbros International. Indicted 2008 for conspiracy to violate the FCPA, violating the FCPA, and conpiracy to commit money laundering. Nigerian news sources in 2010 said Tillery was seized by the American FBI in Lagos and would be returned to the U.S. Reports then said the Nigerian high court had halted the extradition for an indeterminate period because due process wasn’t followed. Tillery has allegedly gained Nigerian citizenship. Last known location: presumed to be Nigeria.