Every so often it is interesting to go back into the archives and this post rewinds back to the Summer of 2010.
Enjoy the trip down memory lane.
As highlighted here, the FCPA enforcement action against James Giffen came to a baffling conclusion. The original 2003 indictment charged Giffen with “making more than $78 million in unlawful payments to two senior officials of the Republic of Kazakhstan in connection with six separate oil transactions, in which the American oil companies Mobil Oil, Amoco, Texaco and Phillips Petroleum acquired valuable oil and gas rights in Kazakhstan.”
Giffen’s defense included that his actions were taken with the knowledge and support of the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Council, the Department of State and the White House. The DOJ did not dispute the fact that Giffen had frequent contacts with senior U.S. intelligence officials or that he used his ties within the Kazakh government to assist the United States. With the court’s approval, Giffen sought discovery from the government to support such a public authority defense and much of the delay in the case was due to the government’s resistance to such discovery and who was entitled to see such discovery. During the summer of 2010, the case took a mysterious turn when Giffen agreed to plead guilty to a one-paragraph superseding indictment charging a misdemeanor tax violation. Later in 2010, U.S. District Court Judge William Pauley called Giffen a Cold War hero, imposed no jail time, and stated that the case should never had been brought in the first place.
From an enforcement standpoint, the following companies resolved actions: Alliance One, Universal, Technip, Snamprogretti, Veraz Networks, and General Electric.
As highlighted in prior posts here and here, tobacco companies Alliance One and Universal resolved enforcement actions. Interestingly, both the DOJ and SEC issued a consolidated press release – the first time the agencies have consolidated an enforcement action against two unrelated companies in such a fashion. Alliance One agreed to pay
As highlighted in prior posts here, here, here and here Technip and Snamprogetti/ENI joined the Bonny Island (Nigeria) Bribery Club. Technip agreed to pay $338 million and Snamprogetti/ENI agreed to pay $365 million.
As highlighted in this prior post, Veraz Networks resolved an enforcement action concerning conduct in China and Vietnam. Thereafter, a former high-ranking SEC FCPA enforcement attorney ripped the enforcement action stating that the SEC “complaint discloses little information about the specifics of the alleged misconduct” and “the complaint is remarkably ambiguous about the substance of the alleged violations.”
As highlighted in this prior post, General Electric resolved an approximate $18 million enforcement action connected to the Iraq Oil for Food program.
From a sentencing standpoint, as highlighted in this prior post husband and wife Gerald and Patricia Green (previously convicted by a jury in connection with a bribery scheme that enabled them to obtain a series of Thai government contracts, including valuable contracts to manage and operate Thailand’s yearly film festival) were sentenced to six months in prison. The judge significantly rejected the DOJ’s sentencing recommendation and commented at sentencing that the Greens helped make the film festival a success, performed the services it was engaged to perform in a professional manner, and increased revenue for the country. (See here).
From a legislative standpoint, as highlighted in this prior post the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act contained whistleblower provisions applicable to securities law violations. Many predicted that the whistleblower provisions were going to lead to a substantial increase in FCPA enforcement and you can judge for yourself whether these predictions turned out to be true.
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