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
Shruti J. Shah
Contributing Editor
Russell A. Stamets
Contributing Editor
Richard Bistrong
Contributing Editor
Eric Carlson
Contributing Editor
The first reports appeared Saturday. They said businesses and individuals in some countries are under pressure to donate to Covid-19 relief charities that have close ties to government officials.… Continue Reading
Tackling demand-side bribery, as the proposed Foreign Extortion Prevention Act aims to do, is complex. On the supply side, we know in most cases why business people pay bribes. In the words of the FCPA, it’s to obtain or retain business or secure an improper advantage.… Continue Reading
The world has now lived with the FCPA for more than 40 years and with hyper-enforcement for more than a decade. By now you’d think everyone on earth has learned about the risks of non-compliance.… Continue Reading
The DOJ unsealed charges Thursday against an Uzbek telecom exec and the daughter of the former Uzbek president for their roles in an $866 million bribery and money laundering scheme.
Gulnara Karimova, 46, was charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, the DOJ said. … Continue Reading
Russia’s biggest mobile phone company will pay $850 million in penalties to the DOJ and SEC to resolve FCPA violations, the SEC and the company said Wednesday.
MTS agreed to the SEC’s order finding that it violated the anti-bribery, books and records, and internal accounting controls provisions of the FCPA and will pay a $100 million penalty to the SEC.… Continue Reading
Alexey Kornya, MTS president and CEORussia’s biggest mobile phone company said it reserved $840 million to resolve a possible FCPA enforcement action by the DOJ and SEC.
Moscow-based MTS said it is cooperating with an investigation by U.S.… Continue Reading
The UK Serious Fraud Office said Wednesday it is trying to recover assets bought with money connected to corrupt deals in Uzbekistan.
“The claim concerns a number of assets, including three UK properties, which the SFO alleges were obtained using the proceeds of corrupt deals in Uzbekistan involving Gulnara Karimova and Rustam Madumarov,” the SFO said. … Continue Reading
Last week police in Malaysia arrested former prime minister Najib Razak after seizing $273 million of loot from his houses and condos.
Prosecutors think Najib and his wife bought the loot with money stolen from Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, 1MDB.… Continue Reading
The SEC said in an enforcement order Thursday that Sweden’s Telia Company AB will disgorge $457 million to resolve FCPA violations in Uzbekistan.… Continue Reading
Swedish telephone firm Telia Company AB agreed Thursday to pay $548.6 million in criminal penalties to resolve FCPA offenses in Uzbekistan.
An Uzbek subsidiary, Coscom LLC, agreed separately to plead guilty.… Continue Reading
In my recent previous posts on the BOTA Foundation, I recapped its history and provided what I think were some of the critical factors which led it to be recognized as the most successful example the United States Department of Justice has had to date in returning recovered corruption assets.… Continue Reading
What happens when recovered assets that were stolen by kleptocrats are not simply returned to the government currently in power, but used to benefit victims of corruption — the poor?
What if the mechanism to return these assets is a foundation, monitored by civil society activists as well as a multilateral finance institution like the World Bank?… Continue Reading
