A new bill that will further regulate the federal acquisition process, called The Close the Contractor Fraud Loophole Act, was approved by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee last week, according to a report by Federal Computer Week, and is now
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Alcoa was sued yesterday by Aluminum Bahrain BSC in a U.S. federal court for allegations of overcharging, fraud and bribery. Aluminum Bahrain BSC, better known as Alba, says it was overcharged by Alcoa for alumina (pictured), a key ingredient in creating aluminum. The company says it paid excesses of about $65 million per […]
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Will there ever be an end to the Oil-for-Food abuses? Flowserve Corporation announced last Thursday that it will pay nearly $10.6 million to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice for violating the United Nation’s Iraq Oil-for-Food humanitarian program. A Dutch and French-based subsidiary of the company, Flowserve […]
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Joining private life hasn’t saved former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft from public scrutiny. He’s back in the spotlight after New Jersey top prosecutor Christopher Christie recently gave Mr. Ashcroft’s consulting firm, the Ashcroft Group, the contract to monitor a settlement between Zimmer Holdings, a medical supply company, and the Department of Justice. […]
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Bribery, according to the DOJ. Lucent technologies helped wrap up a DOJ investigation on Tuesday by agreeing to pay $1 million for FCPA violations. From 2000 to 2003 the company reportedly spent over $10 million on about 315 various trips for approximately 1,000 Chinese government officials. This included all expense paid trips […]
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A new case this week proves that the FCPA doesn’t just cover the back offices of large, powerful businesses. Even individuals and small businesses can and will be prosecuted for violations. Gerald Green, a Hollywood producer, and his wife Patricia were arrested for allegedly bribing a Thai official as much as $1.7 million […]
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The Crane Company, a manufacturer of products, such as valves and marine components, has agreed to pay the United States $7.5 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations, the Justice Department announced today. The government alleges the company did not comply with Defense Department Qualified Products List (QPL) regulations, which require that product suppliers […]
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Italy’s antitrust authority has fined Bristol-Myers Squibb $3.2 million for illegal collusion with competitors in the colostomy bag market (competitors Coloplast SpA, Hollister SpA, and B Braun Milano SpA were also fined lesser amounts for similar anti-competitive behaviour).
At issue is that the four companies (which control 95% of the colostomy bag market in the country), […]
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The Communist Party Disciplinary Committee of the Haishu district in Ningbo has underwritten the creation of an online multi-player computer game called “The Incorruptible Warrior.”
The game went live last week on July 25th and it has already been downloaded over 100,000 times, with hundreds of players engaging online simultaneously.
Why so popular? Because the […]
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The State Attorney General of North Carolina announced another settlement in the environmental services bid rigging scandal that has been investigated over the past three years.
In this latest settlement, CBM Environmental Services and its CEO will pay $350,000 for conspiring to rig bids for cleanup work associated with leaky underground petroleum tanks.
CBM is the eighth […]
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Swiss-based engineering group ABB announced this week that it may have violated the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) anti-bribery law after discovering suspect payments made by some employees overseas.
ABB said the probe is uncovering payments of concern made in Asia, South America, and Europe (with a particular focus on Italy).
The company disclosed that it […]
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Delta & Pine Co. (a cotton seed producer) has reached a settlement with the SEC to pay $300,000 over charges that it illegally bribed Turkish government officials in order to get documentation that reportedly would allow the company to operate in the country.
According to the SEC, Delta & Pine (which has since been acquired by […]
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Today, in a Denver courtroom packed with former US West and Qwest employees who lost their savings in the bankruptcy of the company, a federal judge sentenced the former chief executive who presided over the company’s demise to six years in prison.
Judge Edward Nottingham also ordered the ex-CEO, Joseph Nacchio, to pay a $19 […]
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The Department of Justice has announced that two former executives of ITXC Corporation have pleaded guilty to violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), and one former executive has been already been sentenced for the violations.
Steven J. Ott and Roger Michael Young, former executives of the global telecommunications company, pleaded guilty on July 25, […]
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A federal judge has ruled that pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca, Schering-Plough Corp. and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. engaged in unfair and deceptive trade practices regarding some of their drug prices.
The three companies, along with Johnson & Johnson, were defendants in a suit that alleged they inflated the average wholesale prices (AWP) that they reported and which are […]
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According to recent media reports, the fraud investigation into the BAE Systems over bribery charges was pulled by the government over safety concerns.
British newspaper The Daily Mail obtained legal documents under the Freedom of Information Act which covered a meeting between Britain’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia (Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles) who told the director of […]
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Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) has agreed to pay the $2.6 million to settle False Claims Act allegations. The company allegedly violated the civil False Claims Act by submitting inflated claims for payment between 2002-2005 for programs run by and through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), and […]
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Former Pacific Consolidated Industries (PCI) executive Leo Winston Smith has been arrested on charges of violating the FCPA, money laundering, and tax offenses. Smith allegedly took part in a plan to bribe a United Kingdom Ministry of Defence official with the intent of obtaining high-value contracts with the U.K. Royal Air Force.
From 1993 to 2003, […]
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This is not good. After only six months on the job, the senior official that Siemens hired as part of its effort to stamp out corruption is out of a job.
Daniel Noa, the recently-hired former federal prosecutor who had led the corporation’s compliance efforts since the beginning of the year will […]
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Houston-based Eagle Global Distributors will pay the U.S. government $300,000 in a settlement stemming from charges that the logistics provider overcharged the military to ship materials to Iraq. The charges center around shipments made from January through June last year and were subcontracted through KBR Inc., the Army’s primary contractor to provide food […]
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Jerry Scott Smith, former president of Triton Aerospace Inc., has agreed to plead guilty to one count of wire fraud in a plea agreement that came a day after charges were filed against him for passing off and selling used parts as new to the Defense Department. The government paid upwards of $200,000 for […]
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As allegations of bribery and rumors of a DOJ investigation continue to plague BAE Systems, former partner Saab AB has publicly defended its own practices and has (wisely) distanced itself from the international arms dealer. The two companies partnered in a 1999 deal to supply 28 JAS Gripen fighters to South Africa - one of […]
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According to the UK paper, The Guardian, the US DOJ is on the verge of opening a massive corruption investigation into the international military supply company, BAE. In particular is a focus on an alleged £1bn arms deal payments to Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia in possible violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act […]
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Baker Hughes, the oilfield services company based in Houston, has agreed to pay $44 million to settle SEC and DOJ’s charges over violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
Under the settlement, Baker Hughes subsidiary BHSI pleaded guilty to violations of the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA, conspiracy to violate the FCPA, […]
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China provides our blog with tons of news. There is always a fresh story about how everybody embraces bribery and fraud; followed by a fresh story about the government trying to crack down on corruption.
The latest is last week’s announcement by (try and say in one breath!): The Central Committee for Discipline Inspection […]
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