A former Alstom SA executive who carried a UK passport, worked in France, and said he never set foot in the United States, was convicted Friday by a federal jury on 11 of 12 counts for his part in a scheme to bribe government officials in Indonesia.
Lawrence Hoskins, 69, a former senior vice president at Paris-based Alstom, was found guilty of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and of money laundering and related conspiracy charges.
The jury in Connecticut deliberated one day. They acquitted Hoskins on one money laundering count. They convicted him on six counts of violating the FCPA, three counts of money laundering, and two counts of conspiracy.
The DOJ indicted Hoskins in 2013. His trial was delayed while he challenged the reach of the FCPA through motions to the trial court and during government appeals.
Judge Janet Bond Arterton dismissed part of the indictment against him, ruling that a non-U.S. citizen, national, or resident couldn’t be held criminally liable for conspiring to violate or aiding and abetting a violation of the FCPA.
The Second Circuit agreed but said Hoskins could still be charged with substantive FCPA offenses if the DOJ could show he had acted as an agent of a “domestic concern.” On that basis the DOJ went ahead with his trial.
Alstom SA pleaded guilty in December 2014 to violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by bribing officials in Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the Bahamas.
Three other Alstom executives pleaded guilty in the United States to bribing officials in Indonesia.
After the company’s FCPA resolution, General Electric bought Alstom’s power business in 2015.
The DOJ put Hoskins on trial in Connecticut, where the Alstom subsidiary implicated in the Indonesia bribery was based.
Prosecutors were able to convince the jury that Hoskins, who worked for the Alstom parent company in France, violated the FCPA by acting as an agent for the Connecticut subsidiary when he helped arrange the Indonesia bribes.
Prosecutors said Hoskins helped hire two “consultants” who were supposed to bribe Indonesian officials, including a member of parliament. Alstom’s Connecticut unit eventually won a $118 million contract from Indonesia’s state-owned electricity company.
Alstom’s consortium partner in Indonesia, Marubeni Corporation, pleaded guilty in 2014 to one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and seven substantive FCPA offenses. The Japan-based company paid a criminal penalty of $88 million to resolve the offenses.
Hoskins’ trial started in mid October. He had posted a $2 million bond and before his conviction was allowed to travel outside the United States.
After the verdict Friday, the DOJ said it appreciated “significant cooperation” from “law enforcement colleagues in Indonesia, Switzerland’s Office of the Attorney General and the United Kingdom, as well as authorities in France, Germany, Italy, Singapore, and Taiwan.”
Judge Arterton set Hoskins’ sentencing for January 31, 2020.
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