Justice Department Announces Largest Corporate Bribery Penalty Ever
Source: NPR
Justice Department Announces Largest Corporate Bribery Penalty Ever
December 21, 2016·4:31 PM ET
Two Brazilian companies accused of a massive bribery scheme will pay more than $3.5 billion in fines to U.S. and Brazilian authorities.
Under the agreement, the enormous construction conglomerate Odebrecht will pay $2.6 billion, and its petroleum subsidiary Braskem will pay approximately $957 million, for their dealings with the state-controlled Brazilian oil company Petrobras.
The U.S. Justice Department said it was the agency's largest corporate bribery resolution ever.
. . .
Although Odebrecht and Braskem are both based in Brazil, they trade their stock on U.S. markets and conduct business through U.S. banks, making them subject to U.S. anti-bribery laws. Both companies pleaded guilty to violating the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Read more: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/12/21/506297795/justice-department-announces-largest-corporate-bribery-penalty-ever
Angry Dragon
(36,693 posts)rurallib
(62,414 posts)throw their asses in jail for life and maybe others will get a hint.
bucolic_frolic
(43,161 posts)I haven't been impressed since Enron
JCanete
(5,272 posts)cstanleytech
(26,291 posts)varies politicians engage in like claiming something is a "campaign" contribution?
groundloop
(11,519 posts)Every single foreign government or corporation that wants special favors will be booking suites at tRump's hotels and funelling money into his "charity" (personal slush fund).
nitpicker
(7,153 posts)(snip)
The Bribery Schemes
According to its admissions, Odebrecht engaged in a massive and unparalleled bribery and bid-rigging scheme for more than a decade, beginning as early as 2001. During that time, Odebrecht paid approximately $788 million in bribes to government officials, their representatives and political parties in a number of countries in order to win business in those countries. The criminal conduct was directed by the highest levels of the company, with the bribes paid through a complex network of shell companies, off-book transactions and off-shore bank accounts.
As part of the scheme, Odebrecht and its co-conspirators created and funded an elaborate, secret financial structure within the company that operated to account for and disburse bribe payments to foreign government officials and political parties. By 2006, the development and operation of this secret financial structure had evolved such that Odebrecht established the "Division of Structured Operations," which effectively functioned as a stand-alone bribe department within Odebrecht and its related entities. Until approximately 2009, the head of the Division of Structured Operations reported to the highest levels within Odebrecht, including to obtain authorization to approve bribe payments. After 2009, this responsibility was delegated to certain company business leaders in Brazil and the other jurisdictions. To conceal its activities, the Division of Structured Operations utilized an entirely separate and off-book communications system, which allowed members of the Division of Structured Operations to communicate with one another and with outside financial operators and other co-conspirators about the bribes via secure emails and instant messages, using codenames and passwords.
The Division of Structured Operations managed the "shadow" budget for the Odebrecht bribery operation via a separate computer system that was used to request and process bribe payments as well as to generate and populate spreadsheets that tracked and internally accounted for the shadow budget. These funds for the companys sophisticated bribery operation were generated by the Odebrecht Finance Department through a variety of methods, as well as by certain Odebrecht subsidiaries, including Braskem. The funds were then funneled by the Division of Structured Operations to a series of off-shore entities that were not included on Odebrechts balance sheet as related entities. The Division of Structured Operations then directed the disbursement of the funds from the off-shore entities to the bribe recipient, through the use of wire transfers through one or more of the off-shore entities, as well as through cash payments both inside and outside Brazil, which were sometimes delivered using packages or suitcases left at predetermined locations.
Odebrecht, its employees and agents took a number of steps while in the United States to further the scheme. For instance, in 2014 and 2015, while located in Miami, two Odebrecht employees engaged in conduct related to certain projects in furtherance of the scheme, including meetings with other co-conspirators to plan actions to be taken in connection with the Division of Structured Operations, the movement of criminal proceeds and other criminal conduct. In addition, some of the off-shore entities used by the Division of Structured Operations to hold and disburse unrecorded funds were established, owned and/or operated by individuals located in the United States. In all, this conduct resulted in corrupt payments and/or profits totaling approximately $3.336 billion.
Braskem also admitted to engaging in a wide-ranging bribery scheme and acknowledged the pervasiveness of its conduct. Between 2006 and 2014, Braskem paid approximately $250 million into Odebrechts secret, off-book bribe payment system. Using the Odebrecht system, Braskem authorized the payment of bribes to politicians and political parties in Brazil, as well as to an official at Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. Petrobras (Petrobras), the state-controlled oil company of Brazil. In exchange, Braskem received various benefits, including: preferential rates from Petrobras for the purchase of raw materials used by the company; contracts with Petrobras; and favorable legislation and government programs that reduced the companys tax liabilities in Brazil. This conduct resulted in corrupt payments and/or profits totaling approximately $465 million.
(snip)