If the words on tape aren’t clear, it’s not our problem, the defense insists.
The Justice Department has heralded the case, dubbed the “shot show sting,” as a hallmark of its FCPA enforcement regime, regularly touting at legal conferences the aggressive undercover law enforcement techniques used in the investigation.
Judge Richard Leon also appeared unlikely to give an entrapment instruction to the jury, which would be critical to the defendants who have consistently argued in pre-trial hearings that they were entrapped by the government.
The company has reported additional problems.
Prosecutors are seeking to introduce evidence of allegedly corrupt deals in Colombia, Peru, Guatemala, Saudi Arabia, and Africa in a massive FCPA case.
As the DOJ conducts foreign bribery investigations, it is increasingly communicating and sharing information with the federal agencies that regulate export controls.
This is not the first time the agencies have targeted offshore drillers for violations of the foreign bribery law.
A Japanese firm vaults to a position it would rather not have.
A tainted enterprise involving natural gas contracts yields another settlement.
So far, says Judge Richard Leon, the defense hasn’t shown any shocking government misconduct.
Prosecutors are looking into other current and former executives in a joint venture that bribed Nigerian officials for contracts related to a liquefied natural gas facility, after reaching new cooperation agreements.
The case is the culmination of an elaborate multiyear sting operation in which FBI agents, posed as representatives of the country of Gabon, solicited bribes for a fictitious $15 million arms deal.
Be sure you know which side “your” lawyer is on.
Attorneys for several defendants in the case, the largest-ever brought under the FCPA, had filed motions to dismiss the case, arguing it was legally “impossible” for their clients be charged.
Last year, Kosmos Energy’s plans to sell a stake in an offshore oil field for $4.3 billion to Exxon Mobil Corp. were scuttled amid murky politics and other wrangling in Ghana.
THE PAST AND FUTURE FOR CORPORATE PROSECUTIONS: Orrick partner Michael Madigan discusses his successful defense in 2006 of the former chairman of KPMG’s Tax Department, which led to reduced leverage for prosecutors in pursuing corporation prosecutions.
Mary Jacoby is the founder of Main Justice and Editor-in-Chief of Just Anti-Corruption.
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- Army National Guard Captain Charged for Alleged Role in Bribery and Wire Fraud Scheme and Two Former Soldiers Sentenced for Their Roles in a Related Scheme
- Two Foreign Nationals Sentenced in Houston to Prison for Human Smuggling
- Former Dallas Securities Broker Sentenced in Oklahoma to 84 Months in Prison for Role in Stock Manipulation Scheme
- Oregon Man Indicted for Alleged Role in $50 Million Securities Fraud Scheme
- Pennslyvania Inmate Sentenced to Life in Prison for Violent Murder of Fellow Inmate
- Former Construction Company Owner Indicted in Nevada for Income Tax Evasion
- Michigan Physician Pleads Guilty for Role in Medicare Fraud Scheme
- Medicare Fraud Strike Force Charges 89 Individuals for Approximately $223 Million in False Billing
- Community Mental Health Center Program Coordinator Sentenced to 70 Months for Role in $63 Million Fraud Scheme
- High Ranking Gulf Cartel Member Sentenced in Washington, D.C., to 35 Years in Prison for Drug Trafficking
- Anti-Corruption Portal of the Americas
- City of London Police
- Global Financial Integrity
- GRECO
- Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
- Pacer (U.S. Court Documents)
- State Department Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs
- TRACE International
- Transparency International
- U.K. Courts
- U.K. Ministry of Justice
- U.K. Office of Fair Trading
- U.K. Serious Fraud Office
- U.S. Department of Justice
- U.S. Department of Justice FCPA Page
- U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation
- U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
- U.S. House Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
- U.S. Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations
- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Litigation Releases
- U.S. Senate Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
- United Nations Convention Against Corruption
- World Bank Governance and Anti-Corruption
- World Economic Forum - Corruption Initiative