Category: Bribery

China former football chief sentenced to life for bribery

Bribery, Prosecutions
A former president of the Chinese Football Association (CFA), Chen Xuyuan, has been sentenced to life in prison for bribery, according to the country’s state media. In January, he pleaded guilty to taking bribes worth a total of 81 million yuan ($11.2m; £8.9m). An anti-corruption crackdown led by President Xi Jinping has cut through sport, banking and the military. In football, more than a dozen coaches and players have been investigated. The trial at the Intermediate People’s Court of Huangshi in central China revealed Chen’s illicit activities from 2010 to 2023, which included his earlier role as the president and…

Gunvor S.A. to Pay Over $661M in Landmark Guilty Plea for Foreign Bribery Case

Bribery, Prosecutions
Gunvor S.A., an international commodities trading company based in Switzerland, has pleaded guilty and agreed to pay over $661 million to settle an investigation by the U.S. Justice Department, resolving allegations of violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The guilty plea follows an extensive probe into Gunvor’s corrupt practices, specifically its scheme to pay substantial bribes to Ecuadorean government officials with the aim of securing business deals with Petroecuador, the state-owned and state-controlled oil company of Ecuador. As part of the resolution, Gunvor entered into a plea agreement, admitting to conspiracy charges related to violating the anti-bribery provisions…

Two men acquitted of bribing Saudis in huge British defence deal

Bribery
Two men have been acquitted of paying bribes totalling millions of pounds to high-ranking Saudis after they argued that they had been unfairly prosecuted. Jeffrey Cook and John Mason had been accused of bribing a Saudi prince and his associates to secure and maintain a huge defence deal for a British company. But on Wednesday, a jury in London acquitted them after lawyers argued the payments had been authorised by the British and Saudi governments. Tom Allen, the KC representing Cook, had told jurors at Southwark crown court that a wide array of British politicians, officials and military figures had…

Expensive Art at Stake as Venezuelan Banker Faces U.S. Bribery Charges

Bribery, Prosecutions
He’s already facing charges for allegedly bribing a former Puerto Rican governor, and his bank is in liquidation following money laundering fines. Now, Julio Herrera Velutini has another legal concern: the state of his confiscated US$23-million art collection. Administrators in charge of liquidating his bank’s assets have “stashed” the collection “under conditions that seem inadequate for its proper preservation,” according to a lawsuit recently filed by Herrera Velutini. Herrera Velutini made the claims against Driven Administrative Services LLC, which has been appointed to administer Bancrédito International Bank and Trust Corporation. Herrera Velutini is the sole shareholder of Bancrédito Holding, the…

Bribery, fraud and anti-money laundering | UK Regulatory Outlook February 2024

Bribery, Corruption, Regulation
The Environment Agency has established a new Economic Crime Unit to combat money laundering and conduct financial investigations in the waste sector, made up of accredited financial investigators and financial intelligence officers and financial crime analysts. The unit comprises two teams: the Asset Denial Team, focusing on account freezing orders, cash seizures, pre-charge restraints and confiscations; and the Money Laundering Investigations team, responsible for conducting money laundering investigations targeting environmental offences. Businesses within the waste sector should ensure they are adhering to proper financial practices and reporting any suspicious activities. It is crucial that should the Economic Crime Unit launch…

Tory MP earns £900 an hour from arms firm run by bribery suspect

Bribery
A Conservative MP is set to earn £900 an hour from a North Macedonian arms company whose owner was embroiled in a bribery scandal, openDemocracy can reveal. Mark Pritchard, who has been the MP for The Wrekin since 2005, began working for the firm ATS Group in November – but only declared it in Parliament’s transparency register last week. ATS Group’s owner and CEO was arrested in Belgrade in 2019 following a months-long investigation by Serbian authorities into allegations of bribery over the alleged theft of technical documents from a rival arms manufacturer in Užice, Serbia. In the latest register…

UN Staff on £1.5bn Iraq Aid Project ‘Demanding Bribes’

Bribery
Staff working for the UN in Iraq are allegedly demanding bribes in return for helping businessmen win contracts on postwar reconstruction projects in the country, a Guardian investigation has found. The alleged kickbacks are one of a number of claims of corruption and mismanagement the Guardian has uncovered in the Funding Facility for Stabilization, a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) scheme launched in 2015 and backed by $1.5bn (£1.2bn) in support so far from 30 donors, including the UK. Since the 2003 US-led invasion, the international community has pumped billions of aid dollars into Iraq. Twenty years on, the country…

US Prosecutors Empowered to Charge Foreign Officials with Bribery

Bribery
In a significant stride toward combating global corruption, the United States has enacted the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act (FEPA), allowing federal prosecutors to bring criminal charges against foreign government officials soliciting or accepting bribes from U.S. companies. The newly minted law, a component of the National Defense Authorization Act, addresses a longstanding gap in the fight against corruption, as it criminalizes the “demand” side of cross-border corruption, providing a crucial addition to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Historically, the U.S. government has focused on charging U.S. companies for engaging in corrupt practices overseas under the FCPA. However, the ability…

SEC Charges Global Software Company with Bribery

Bribery
The U.S. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged SAP, a multinational software company, with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by bribing government officials at least in seven countries including South Africa, Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Indonesia, and Azerbaijan. According to the Jan. 10 official press release, between December of 2014 and January of 2022 “SAP employed third-party intermediaries and consultants to bribe government officials to obtain business with public sector customers in the seven countries.” The company, based in Germany, “inaccurately recorded the bribes as legitimate business expenses in its books and records, despite the fact that…

Bribery and Corruption : An unholy cocktail of outsider and insider threats

Bribery, Corruption
This is the fifth in a series of articles analysing the top 10 serious and organised crime threats to the UK and how they have evolved over a decade. This article traces the journey of and response to the threat of bribery and corruption – a threat that the UK remains far too complacent about. Bribery and corruption can no longer comfortably be seen as something that only happens overseas or is confined to the underworld of organised crime. It permeates all levels of society, poses a genuine risk to national security, exacerbates illegal migration, eats into the public purse,…

Ladbrokes and Coral owner to pay £585m to settle HMRC bribery inquiry

Bribery, Corruption
The owner of Ladbrokes and Coral has agreed to pay almost £600m to settle an investigation into alleged bribery at a business it owned in Turkey. Entain said it had reached an agreement with HM Revenue and Customs which will make the gambling giant pay a total of £585m in the form of a financial penalty and a “disgorgement of profits”. Under the terms of the agreement, the penalty, which includes an extra £20m charitable donation and a contribution of £10m towards the costs incurred by HMRC and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), will be paid in instalments over four…

British Reinsurance Brokers Resolve Bribery Investigations

Bribery, Corruption
Tysers Insurance Brokers Limited (Tysers) and H.W. Wood Limited (H.W. Wood), two U.K.-based reinsurance brokers, have agreed to resolve investigations by the Justice Department into violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) arising from Tysers’ and H.W. Wood’s participation in a corrupt scheme to pay bribes to Ecuadorian government officials. Tysers and H.W. Wood each entered into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the department in connection with a criminal information filed in the Southern District of Florida charging both companies with conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA. “Tysers and H.W. Wood have admitted to…

U.S. Company Pays Hundreds of Millions After Alleged Bribery in Asia

Bribery, Corruption, Regulatory Fines
American chemical manufacturer Albemarle Corporation has agreed to pay more than $218 million to settle allegations of bribing officials at state oil refineries in three Asian countries, the U.S. Justice Department announced Friday. The North Carolina company admitted to using “third-party sales agents” and foreign employees to bribe officials to win contracts with state refineries in India, Indonesia and Vietnam, the department said. The department said Albemarle received nearly $100 million in profits from the corrupt scheme. Under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in the United States, it is illegal to bribe any foreign official in exchange for obtaining or…

Brazil must make urgent key reforms to build on its recent progress in the fight against foreign bribery

Bribery, Corruption
9/10/2023 – Brazil has sanctioned large-scale foreign bribery schemes through non-trial resolutions with three legal persons, including as part of one of the most prominent multi-jurisdictional resolutions to date involving foreign bribery allegations. While the Working Group commends Brazil for this success, nevertheless Brazil has only a limited number of enforcement proceedings still ongoing. No natural person has yet received a final conviction for bribery of a foreign public official. The 45-country Working Group has just completed its Phase 4 evaluation of Brazil’s implementation of the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions and related…

Pakistan: Imran Khan barred from politics for five years

Bribery, Corruption
The former prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, has been barred from holding public office for five years by the country’s electoral authorities. The decision was announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan three days after Mr Khan was sentenced to three years in prison for corruption. Tuesday’s announcement also means Mr Khan will be dismissed as an MP. He maintains the charges are politically motivated, but the Pakistani government denies this. Marriyum Aurangzeb, Pakistan’s minister of information and broadcasting, told the BBC before the announcement: “You have to be accountable for your deeds in law. This has nothing to…

3M Agrees to Pay Over $6.5 Million to Settle Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Charges

Bribery, Corruption, Prosecutions
n a move to resolve allegations of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced that 3M will pay more than $6.5 million. The charges stem from violations of the books and records as well as internal controls provisions of the FCPA. The SEC’s order outlines that employees of a 3M wholly owned subsidiary located in China were involved in orchestrating arrangements for Chinese government officials, who were employed by state-owned health care facilities, to attend conferences, educational events, and health care facility visits overseas. These arrangements were purportedly a part of the…

Nigeria’s ex-oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke charged with bribery in the U

Bribery
Nigeria’s former oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke has been charged with bribery offences in the UK.She is suspected of accepting financial rewards for awarding multi-million dollar oil and gas contracts.A key figure in ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, she also served as the first female president of the oil exporters group Opec.The 63-year-old, who has been on bail since her arrest in London in 2015, has denied corruption allegations.BBC Africa Live: Updates from the continentAssets worth millions of pounds relating to the alleged offences have been frozen as part of an ongoing probe by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA).“These charges are…

Ladbrokes owner sets aside £585m to settle HMRC bribery inquiry

Bribery, Corruption
The owner of Ladbrokes and Coral bookmakers has said it is close to “drawing a line” under a scandal at one of its former Turkish business, as it sets aside £585m to settle an investigation over alleged bribery. Entain has put aside the cash in anticipation of a settlement with UK authorities, who entered negotiations over a deferred prosecution agreement with the international betting and gaming group this year. Entain said on Thursday that negotiations with the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had “progressed to a point where the company believes it is likely to be able to agree a…

Labour Will Back Global Anti-Corruption Court

Bribery, Corruption
Labour will restore the UK’s tarnished global reputation by backing a global anti-corruption court and by reinstating a requirement to follow international law in the ministerial code, the shadow foreign secretary will say in a speech on Monday. David Lammy says the measures will restore the country’s reputation for keeping its word, as well as going some way to undo the damage caused by Conservative party scandals in recent years. In a speech to the Bingham Centre, he will say international law is “the connective tissue which binds us to other nations”, but has been treated with a cavalier disrespect…

SFO seizes Sheffield flat linked to £17 million bribery in China

Bribery, Corruption, Uncategorized
Today at the High Court, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) successfully recovered a property worth £200,000 and over £8,000 in rental profits from Dr Guang Jiang, an agent who helped British technology company Sarclad Ltd to pay bribes to secure business in China. The SFO’s 2013 investigation into Sarclad exposed how the company paid bribes to secure £17 million worth of contracts to provide technology services to steel production companies between 2004 and 2012. The majority of these corrupt contracts were facilitated by Dr Jiang, who acted as Sarclad’s agent in China. The company paid £6.5 million in penalties for…

UK SFO delays decision on whether to charge Glencore staff until year-end

Bribery
The SFO is investigating former employees of Glencore’s UK subsidiary Glencore Energy UK Limited over potential criminal offences in relation to its operations in West Africa. The SFO’s decision has been delayed before. The agency said in October it aimed to make a decision in relation to 11 individuals employed by or associated with Glencore by April, but this was pushed back earlier this year. The SFO now hopes to make a decision on bringing criminal charges by the end of 2023, its lawyer Alexandra Healy said at a hearing at London’s Southwark Crown Court on Monday. The ex-Glencore employees…

Ladbrokes owner ‘could face big penalty’ as it reveals talks with prosecutors

Bribery
A nearly four-year bribery investigation into the owner of Ladbrokes could end in a “substantial financial penalty”. Entain said it is in talks with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and admitted misconduct “may have occurred”. The two sides are trying to reach a so-called deferred prosecution agreement, which removes the threat of prosecution for a company if it lives up to certain conditions. The case is a bribery investigation into Entain’s former subsidiary in Turkey. Authorities opened a probe into its suppliers in 2019, expanding it less than a year later to look at wrongdoing within the Entain group itself.…

Publication of the ABC Guidance

Bribery, Corruption, Law, Regulation & Guidance, Wolfsberg
Today the Wolfsberg Group is publishing its updated Anti-Bribery and Corruption Compliance Programme Guidance. This document updates the 2017 version and it is designed to promote a culture of ethical business practices and compliance with ABC legal and regulatory requirements. The Guidance is a risk-based approach for the adequate development and implementation of compliance programmes to prevent, detect, and report acts of Bribery and Corruption and identifies areas of elevated risk. While no ABC compliance programme can prevent or protect against Bribery and Corruption risks completely, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution, this guidance can help the industry mitigate Bribery…

Ericsson agrees to $206m plea bargain with US in bribery case

Bribery, Prosecutions
Swedish telecom giant Ericsson has agreed to plead guilty and pay a $206 million fine for breaching its deferred prosecution deal with U.S. authorities by withholding information about its alleged misconduct in Iraq and other countries. In 2019, Ericsson admitted to accusations of bribery and other wrongdoing in multiple countries and paid a record $1 billion fine under a deferred prosecution agreement struck with the U.S. Department of Justice. The deal allowed the company to avoid a criminal conviction but required it to report any potential wrongdoing and submit to the scrutiny of an outside monitor over a three-year period.…

Swiss regulator investigates 12 banks in Lebanese central banker corruption case

Bribery, Corruption, Regulation
ZURICH (Reuters) -Switzerland’s financial regulator has investigated 12 banks and launched enforcement proceedings against two of them in relation to corruption charges against longtime central banker Riad Salameh, it said on Monday. Lebanese authorities charged Salameh, his brother Raja and one of his assistants on Thursday with money laundering, embezzlement and illicit enrichment after months of delay in the high-profile case. The Salameh brothers have denied wrongdoing throughout the process. The governor insisted on his innocence to Reuters last Thursday, saying the charges were “not an indictment” and pledged to abide by judicial procedures. The charges are the product of…

Handbook of good practices in the fight against corruption

Bribery, Corruption
The goal of this Handbook is to map a variety of anti-corruption practices in EU Member States (MS) that have proved to be useful in solving problems related to corruption, and which can inspire similar initiatives elsewhere. For this purpose, one good anti-corruption practice either established or innovative, with positive impact aspirations in each EU Member State was selected, and clustered into eight types of anti-corruption approaches. The Handbook is structured along these identified types. Each chapter consists of a theoretical part about the respective type of anti-corruption approach and is illustrated by corresponding case studies. To ensure transferability, analysis…

More MEPs could lose immunity in corruption probe, president says

Bribery, Corruption
The EU says it will launch proceedings to remove parliamentary immunity from two MEPs implicated in an ongoing corruption scandal. Parliamentary President Roberta Metsola said she had taken the move after a request from Belgian police. But her statement did not name the MEPs involved. The scandal erupted last month after one MEP and three others were arrested on charges of corruption and money-laundering. While authorities have not named the country behind the bribery network, numerous EU sources have accused Qatar of running the operation. But the Gulf state has strenuously denied any claims of misconduct as unfair and “gravely…

Former director in the Office of the Director General of Audit Sentenced to 4 Years in Bribery Case

Bribery, Prosecutions
A Paramasivan, former director (AMF-II) in the Office of Director General of Audit, Central Expenditure, New Delhi has been sentenced to four years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000 by the principal special judge for CBI Cases, Chennai (Tamil Nadu) in a bribery case. The Indian Audit and Accounts Service was sentenced along with Sivaram Thilagar, then Assistant Surgeon, Government Primary Health Centre,Kanchipuram (Tamil Nadu) in a bribery case. Sivaram has been sentenced to undergo three years rigorous imprisonment with fine of Rs 5000 in a bribery case. The CBI had registered a case against the accused…

The European Union’s Qatar Bribery Scandal

Bribery, Corruption
The European Union is embroiled in a scandal involving alleged influence peddling through a European Parliament vice president, literal bags of cash, a nonprofit organization called Fight Impunity, and a “Gulf State” widely reported to be Qatar, host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Nothing less than “Europe’s credibility is at stake” in the EU’s response, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said. Here’s what you need to know: Who was allegedly bribed to do what?Belgian police raided at least 20 sites across Brussels between Dec. 9 and Dec. 13, including inside European Parliament offices, arresting six people and seizing more…

France’s Safran to pay $17.2 million to settle China Bribery in US probe

Bribery, Corruption
(Reuters) – French jet engine maker Safran SA will pay about $17.2 million as part of a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department over bribes its subsidiaries allegedly paid in China, the Department of Justice (DoJ) said in a statement made public on Friday. The Paris-based aerospace supplier will be required to turn over profits from “corruptly obtained” and retained contracts by its U.S.-based subsidiary, Monogram Systems, the DoJ said. Monogram and Safran’s German unit, Evac GmbH, allegedly paid bribes to obtain “lucrative” train lavatory contracts with the Chinese government. Safran did not immediately respond to Reuters request for a…

Biggest Bribery Fines of 2022

Bribery, Corruption, Prosecutions, Regulatory Fines
Key bribery fines & settlements in 2022 Glencore – $1bn settlementFirstEnergy – $180m settlementTenaris – $78m settlementStericycle – $84m settlementK.T. Corporation – $6.3m settlementKPMG – £3.4m fineBoulting Group – £500k fineTritec and Electron – £70k fine each Whilst companies face multi-million settlement penalties, the consequences for individuals can include jail time. Biggest bribery fines in 2022 in detail The SFO’s investigation revealed that Glencore paid over $28m (£22.2m) in bribes through its employees and agents in exchange for preferential access to oil, including larger cargoes, more valuable oil grades, and preferred delivery dates. The firm gave the go-ahead for these…

Trace Releases 2022 Bribery Risk Matrix

Bribery, Corruption
ANNAPOLIS, MD, U.S.—15 November 2022—TRACE, a non-profit international business association dedicated to anti-bribery, compliance and good governance, has released the 2022 Bribery Risk Matrix, which measures business bribery risk in 194 jurisdictions. According to this year’s data, North Korea, Turkmenistan, Equatorial Guinea, Syria and Venezuela present the highest commercial bribery risk, while Norway, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland and Denmark present the lowest. Other notable findings: The United States ranked 16th and scored 19 out of 100. The enforcement environment hasn’t improved since a slump during the Trump administration, and the free press environment continues to decline.Ukraine ranked 103rd and scored…

U.K. No Longer an Active Enforcer of Foreign Bribery as Global Enforcement Hits Historic Low

Bribery, Corruption
Britain has lost its place among the top enforcers of foreign bribery laws in new research published today by Transparency International. Exporting Corruption 2022, which ranks the world’s biggest exporters on how well they investigate and sanction companies for paying bribes abroad, sees the UK relegated from the ‘active’ enforcers group to join Germany, France, and others deemed to be only ‘moderate’ enforcers. Foreign bribery wreaks havoc in countries around the world, illicitly channelling public money into private profits and buying undue influence over government decision-making for major multinationals. This is the first time the UK has fallen out of…

Airbus confirms bribery settlement talks over Kazakhstan, Libya

Bribery, Regulatory Fines
Airbus confirmed on Friday it is negotiating a new bribery settlement with French authorities over past dealings in Libya and Kazakhstan on top of record fines agreed in 2020. The disclosure in accounting notes published on Friday came after prosecutors said earlier this week they were in talks with Airbus to settle unspecified matters similar to the earlier case, involving widespread bribes paid over several years. In notes with quarterly results, Airbus repeated it was co-operating fully with French authorities on investigations related to Kazakhstan and Libya. In Friday’s update, it added these two probes had evolved into talks over…

Oracle to Pay SEC $23 Million Over Foreign Bribery Allegations

Bribery, Regulatory Fines
Oracle Corp. has agreed to pay $23 million to resolve allegations that it used slush funds to bribe foreign officials in return for business, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Tuesday. The regulator claims Oracle subsidiaries in Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and India created the slush funds between 2016 and 2019. In addition to bribery, the Turkey and U.A.E. subsidiaries also used the slush funds to send foreign officials to tech conferences, and in some cases, have their families accompany them to conferences or take side trips to California, according to the agency’s order. Without admitting or denying…

U.K. at Risk of Joining Global Anti Corruption Partnership ‘List of Shame’

Bribery, Corruption
The Government has been warned it is on the brink of joining three other countries on a “list of shame” for repeatedly failing to meet the requirements set out by a global anti-corruption body co-founded by the UK. The Government was informed it has for the third time in a row fallen short of minimum requirements in its action plan to boost transparency, as set out as a condition of membership by the Open Government Partnership (OPG). In a letter to the Cabinet Office dated August 2, seen by PA news agency, OPG chief executive Sanjay Pradhan said the Government…

Former Detroit Cop Who Led Integrity Unit Pleads Guilty in Bribery Conspiracy

Bribery, Prosecutions
Former Detroit Police Lieutenant John F. Kennedy, who previously supervised the department’s integrity unit, pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiring with another officer to commit bribery, according to the United States Attorney’s Office. Kennedy, 57, of Rochester Hills, was accused of bribery as part of a broader federal investigation into public corruption involving Detroit city government officials and the towing industry. Initially charged with three counts bribery and one count of conspiracy, Kennedy and former Detroit Police Officer Daniel Vickers were accused of teaming up in May 2017 and began accepting cash, cars, car parts, car repairs and other valuables from…

Guatemala’s Former Economics Minister Pleads Guilty to Paying Bribes

Bribery, Prosecutions
A former high-ranking government official in Guatemala has pleaded guilty in Miami federal court to conspiring to commit money laundering while paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to Guatemalan politicians through the U.S. banking system. Acisclo Valladares Urruela, the former economics minister in Guatemala, admitted that he transferred $350,000 in bribery payments to the unidentified Guatemalan politicians through two companies with bank accounts in Miami, according to a factual statement filed with his plea agreement. Valladares also acknowledged that he received $140,000 for moving the dirty money into those accounts, the statement says. Valladares paid the illegal bribes…

Mining firm Glencore pleads guilty to UK bribery charges

Bribery, Corruption
A British subsidiary of the mining firm Glencore has pleaded guilty in a UK court to corruption offences for the second time in the last two months. It was accused of paying millions of dollars in bribes to secure access to crude oil in several African countries. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) found that bribes occurred from 2012 to 2016. It found that bribes of over $28m (£22.8m) were paid via the Swiss-based firm’s employees and agents. The bribery charges stated that the firm’s aim was for officials to “perform their functions improperly, or reward them for so doing, by…

Mining Giant Pleads Guilty to U.K. Bribery Charges

Bribery
A subsidiary of the mining and commodities trading giant Glencore has pleaded guilty to seven counts of bribery in a London court. The firm also said it will pay more than $1bn (£800m) to resolve similar claims with the US and Brazil. The UK’s Serious Fraud Office said it had exposed “profit-driven bribery and corruption” across Glencore Energy UK’s oil operations in five African nations. The firm will find how much it must pay in fines at a sentencing in June. It previously set aside $1.5bn to cover the investigations it faced in the UK, US and Brazil. Glencore’s chairman…