Bribery & Corruption

Criminal Indictment alleging conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and conspiracy to commit money laundering involving an alleged scheme to bribe officials in Ecuador and involving entities, accounts, and individuals in or from Ecuador, Italy, Panama, Spain, United Kingdom, Uruguay, and USA in USA v. Esteban Eduardo Merlo Hidalgo, described as a citizen of Ecuador and USA; Cristian Patricio Pintado Garcia, described as a citizen of Ecuador and Italy, and Luis Lenin Maldonado Matute, described as a citizen of Ecuador and Costa Rica, at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Application by B&C KB Holding GmbH to take discovery from Goldberg Lindsay & Co. LLC, d.b.a. Lindsay Goldberg, described as "a private equity firm" based in New York, and Michael Dees, described as Managing Partner of Lindsay Goldberg, for use in "criminal investigations in Austria and Germany" that "stem from powerful indications of a large-scale scheme to defraud involving manipulation of financial statements, misappropriation of monies, and other evidence of misconduct at the European-based Schur Flexibles group of companies", filed at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Criminal Indictment in USA v. Ralph Steinmann, a citizen of Switzerland, and Luis Fernando Vuteff, a citizen of Argentina, at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Criminal Complaint alleging the defendants laundered the proceeds of corruption involving PDVSA in Venezuela in USA v. Ralph Steinmann, described as "a Swiss national who operated a European financial institution", and Luis Fernando Vuteff, described as a citizen of Argentina, at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Administrative Order by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission imposing a fine of $25 million on Tenaris S.A., described as "a global manufacturer and supplier of steel pipe products and related services, headquartered in Luxembourg", for "violations of the anti-bribery, books and records, and internal accounting controls provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 by Tenaris, as a result of a bribe scheme involving agents and employees of its Brazilian subsidiary to obtain and retain business from a Brazil state-owned entity Petróleo Brasileiro S.A.".

Peru is seeking evidence from a New York-based credit union for employees of the United Nations for a criminal investigation into lawyer José Luis Noriega Ludwick, who is suspected of laundering money for "Clan Orellana, the largest criminal organization in Peru's existence".

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence from United Nations Federal Credit Union - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Peru - for a criminal investigation into Jose Luis Noriega Ludwick, described as "a lawyer of a Peruvian criminal organization, Clan Orellana", and others for suspected "money laundering and crimes against public order and conspiracy", filed at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Application by Anatolie Stati, described as "a Moldovan businessman, who held interests in substantial oil fields in the Republic of Kazakhstan, which were wrongly expropriated by Kazakhstan resulting in the state's obligation to pay a nearly $500 million international arbitral award", to take discovery from Emmanuil Grinshpun for use in legal proceedings in Moldova against "Vladimir Voronin, Oleg Reidman, Emmanuel Grinshpun, Nursultan Nazarbayev, Karim Massimov, Timur Kulibayev, Kairat Boranbayev, Arvind Tiku, Alexander Mashkevich, Kanatbek Safinov, Arman Rakhimov, Serik Rakhimov, Grigory Andreev, Andrey Kiselyov, Marat Beketayev, Ruslan Ashenov, Orynbasar Kubygul, Almat Madaliyev, and other persons" for alleged "abuse of official authority, blackmail and attempted blackmail", filed at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Amended Writ of Summons and Statement of Claim alleging “a corrupt scheme to launder money or conceal corruption and fraud” in Gulf Investment Corporation, of Kuwait, and General Retirement and Social Insurance Authority, of Qatar v. Port Link GP Ltd., of the Cayman Islands; Mark Eric Williams, of Georgia, USA; Wellspring Capital Group Inc., of Georgia, USA; KGL Investment Company Asia, of the Cayman Islands; Apache Asia Limited, of Hong Kong; Apache Asia Limited, of Macao; Ronald Henry Ayliffe, of Singapore, and Elite First Investment Limited, of the British Virgin Islands, at the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands.

Criminal Information alleging conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act to "obtain and retain business in Nigeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Brazil, Venezuela, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo" in USA v. Glencore International AG, described as "a multinational commodity trading and mining company headquartered in Baar, Switzerland", at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Application by Associação dos Profissionais dos Correios, described as "a Brazilian non-profit association that defends and represents the interests of present and former/retired postal worker employees of Correios, a state-owned public postal company", to take discovery from The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation for use in legal proceedings in São Paulo, Brazil "against Instituto de Seguridade Social dos Correios e Telégrafos, Empresa Brasileira de Correio e Telégrafos, KPMG Auditores Independentes, and BNY Mellon Serviços Financeiros Distribuidora de Títulos e Valores Mobilários S.A." alleging "misconduct, malfeasance, breaches of fiduciary duties, and corruption", filed at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Application by CFE International LLC to take discovery from Arbor Glen Consulting LLC, whose "sole officer" was identified as Arlin Travis, for use in "a foreign criminal proceeding" in Mexico against former "public servants" Javier Gutierrez Becerril and Guillermo Turrent Schnaas for suspected corruption regarding natural gas contracts worth “hundreds of millions of dollars”, filed at the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.

Forfeiture Complaint regarding a "multi-million dollar mansion located in the Holmby Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California" that is "traceable to unlawful bribes paid for the benefit of Gagik Khachatryan, the former minister of finance of the Republic of Armenia, and his sons Gurgen Khachatryan and Artyom Khachatryan, and related money laundering transactions" in USA v. Real Property in Los Angeles, California at the U. S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Application by SPS I Fundo de Investimento de Ações, of São Paulo, Brazil, described as "a minority shareholder of one of the largest Brazilian public companies, JBS S.A., which was used by its controlling shareholders for the purpose of conducting an illicit bribery scheme, defrauding JBS and its minority shareholders", to take discovery from JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. and Barclays USA, Inc. for use in legal proceedings in Brazil, filed at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Administrative Order by the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission imposing a penalty of $23,987,520 on Stericycle, Inc., described as a Delaware-domiciled "world-wide provider of medical waste and other services" for "violations of the anti-bribery, books and records, and internal accounting controls provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977" involving "wholly-owned subsidiaries in Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina".

Deferred Prosecution Agreement regarding violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act involving entities in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico in USA v. Stericycle Inc. at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

A U.S. subsidiary of Mexico's state-owned electric utility is seeking evidence from a company in Texas for use in a criminal proceeding against former "public servants" Javier Gutierrez and Guillermo Turrent for alleged corruption regarding contracts totaling "hundreds of millions of dollars".

Criminal Information alleging violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act involving entities in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico USA v. Stericycle Inc. at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Application by CFE International LLC to take discovery from Antaeus Group LLC, described as a Texas firm whose principals are Matthew Calhoun and Mark Bayse, for use in a criminal proceeding in Mexico against former "public servants" Javier Gutierrez Becerril and Guillermo Turrent Schnaas for suspected corruption regarding natural gas contracts worth "hundreds of millions of dollars", filed at the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.

Application by The Renco Group Inc., described as "a family-owned, private holding company that makes long-term investments in companies", and The Doe Run Resources Corporation, described as "a privately held natural resources company and producer of lead, copper, and zinc concentrates and recycler of lead-bearing materials", to take discovery from Victor Careaga, described as an insurance agent in Miami, Florida, for use in "a pending, confidential criminal investigation in Peru concerning a conspiracy to defraud Renco", filed at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

The liquidators of three British Virgin Islands companies that were involved in the $8.5 billion 1MDB fraud have applied for recognition in Florida as they hunt for assets that were, among other ways, allegedly siphoned off via investment funds in the Cayman Islands and Curaçao.

Chapter 15 Petition for Recognition of a Foreign Main Proceeding in the British Virgin Islands by Helen Janes, Angela Barkhouse, and Carl Jackson, as the Foreign Representatives of SRC Strategic Resources Limited, Bright Oriande Limited, and SRC International (Malaysia) Limited, all in Voluntary Liquidation, collectively described as being "part of the fraud perpetrated against 1 Malaysia Development Berhad, a sovereign wealth fund owned by the Malaysian Ministry of Finance, in which numerous entities and individuals formed a network to divert and distribute funds to the fraudsters who orchestrated the fraud and to individuals and/or entities connected to them", at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Report of Commissioner Gary Hickinbottom regarding a British Virgin Islands Commission of Inquiry "into whether there was information that corruption, abuse of office or other serious dishonesty in relation to officials, whether statutory, elected or public, may have taken place in recent years".

Criminal Indictment alleging money laundering concerning bribes involving Odebrecht SA, of Brazil, in USA v. Carlos Ramon Polit Faggioni, described as a citizen of Ecuador who "served as the comptroller general of Ecuador from in or around 207 to 2017", at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

British Virgin Islands-domiciled Yukos Capital Limited yesterday filed a petition at federal court in Washington, D.C. to enforce a $5 billion arbitration award that was entered against Russia last year in Switzerland.

Petition to Enforce Arbitral Award that "arises from Russia’s illegal expropriation of Yukos Capital’s multi-billion dollar investments in Yukos Oil Company in the form of two loans made in 2003 and 2004" in Yukos Capital Limited, of the British Virgin Islands, described as "a former, indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Yukos Oil" v. The Russian Federation at the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Criminal Indictment alleging money laundering against two former prosecutors in Venezuela regarding an alleged bribery scheme involving PDVSA, described as "Venezuela's state-owned and state-controlled oil company", in USA v. Daniel D'Andrea Golindano and Luis Javier Sanchez Rangel at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Writ of Summons and Statement of Claim alleging "a corrupt scheme to launder money or conceal corruption and fraud" in Gulf Investment Corporation, of Kuwait, and General Retirement and Social Insurance Authority, of Qatar v. Port Link GP Ltd., of the Cayman Islands; Mark Eric Williams, of Georgia, USA; Wellspring Capital Group Inc., of Georgia, USA; KGL Investment Company Asia, of the Cayman Islands; Apache Asia Limited, of Hong Kong; Apache Asia Limited, of Macao; Ronald Henry Ayliffe, of Singapore, and Elite First Investment Limited, of the British Virgin Islands, at the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands.

Application by Tsukasa Akimoto, described as "a member of the House of Representatives of Japan" who was "recently convicted of bribery charges, and is now appealing said conviction", to take discovery from Apple Inc. for use in legal proceedings in Japan, filed at the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

The USA has filed a forfeiture complaint in California against seized funds in 754 accounts at Bank of America that were allegedly set up for non-resident aliens, mostly citizens of China, by corrupt bank employees who took bribes to circumvent anti-money laundering laws.

Forfeiture Complaint alleging that "criminal actors known and unknown have conspired to open hundreds of bank accounts at Bank of America through corruption and bribery of bank employees responsible for ensuring BofA's compliance with anti-money laundering and customer identification policies during new account openings, thus providing hundreds of unknown or unverified individuals or organizations with virtually-unfettered access to the U.S. financial system" in USA v. Funds Seized From Accounts at Bank of America NA at the U. S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Mongolia's former Prime Minister Sükhbaataryn Batbold, his son, Battushig Batbold, and entities in the British Virgin Islands, Hong Kong, Mongolia, South Korea, and Switzerland are being sued in the BVI for alleged corruption.

Judgment regarding "whether the Integrity Commission of the Turks and Caicos Islands has the power under section 20 of the Integrity Commission Ordinance to issue a summons to a third party requiring them to produce documents as part of an informal investigation, or whether that power can be exercised only in connection with a formal inquiry under section 46 of the Ordinance" in the Integrity Commission of the Turks and Caicos Islands v. Anthony Kikivarakis, as Official Liquidator of TCI Bank Ltd. (in Liquidation), at the Privy Council for the United Kingdom.

Complaint alleging "FirstEnergy - led by its then-Chief Executive Officer Charles E. (Chuck) Jones and other senior executives - was part of a criminal enterprise, engaging in a massive bribery and money laundering scheme to pay tens of millions of dollars to Ohio public officials in exchange for official acts done to benefit the Company" in MFS Series Trust I, on behalf of MFS Value Fund; MFS Series Trust IV, on behalf of MFS Blended Research Global Equity Fund; MFS Series Trust V, on behalf of MFS Research Fund and MFS Total Return Fund; MFS Series Trust VI, on behalf of MFS Utilities Fund; MFS Series Trust X, on behalf of MFS Blended Research Mid Cap Equity Fund and MFS Blended Research Value Equity Fund; MFS Series Trust XI, on behalf of MFS Mid Cap Value Fund and MFS Blended Research Core Equity Fund; MFS Series Trust XV, on behalf of MFS Global Alternative Strategy Fund; MFS Variable Insurance Trust, on behalf of MFS Value Series, MFS Utilities Series, MFS Total Return Series, and MFS Research Series; MFS Variable Insurance Trust II, on behalf of MFS Blended Research Core Equity Portfolio; MFS Variable Insurance Trust III, on behalf of MFS Mid Cap Value Portfolio; MFS Meridian Funds, of Luxembourg, on behalf of U.S. Value Fund and Managed Wealth Fund; MFS Investment Management Company (Lux), Sàrl, of Luxembourg, on behalf of Blended Research Global Equity Fund; and MFS Heritage Trust Company, as Trustee for MFS Large Cap Value Fund, v. FirstEnergy Corp., Charles E. Jones, Michael Dowling, James F. Pearson, Steven E. Strah, K. Jon Taylor, Donald R. Schneider, and John Judge at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

As part of what its lawyers claim "could become the largest international asset recovery effort of all time", Libya has applied to take discovery from eight major banks in its hunt for an estimated $100 billion allegedly misappropriated by former leader Muammar Gaddafi. The effort is being led by lawyers Oren Warshavsky, of BakerHostetler, and Warren Gluck, of Holland & Knight.

Application by the Libyan Asset Recovery and Management Office to take discovery from Bank of America N.A., Citigroup Inc. d.b.a. Citibank; JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., UBS Group A.G., HSBC Bank, Credit Suisse Bank N.A., Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, and Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas for use in foreign legal proceedings regarding "tens of billions of dollars stolen by Muammar Muhammed Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi over the course of his 32-year dictatorship", filed at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Criminal Indictment alleging conspiracy "with Bryan Samuel Berkman, Luis Berkman, Philip Lichtenfeld, Sergio Rodrigo Mendez Mendizabal, and other persons, known and unknown" to launder the proceeds of corruption in Bolivia in USA v. Arturo Carlos Murillo Prijic at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

This video will show you how to use and map data to enhance your investigations into serious financial crime. Presenters: Antonina Volkotrub (Anti-Corruption Action Centre), David Thompson (Altana AI), Thomas Ewing (C4ADS)

Press Release by the U. S. Department of Justice announcing that Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares, described as "a citizen of Panama and Italy", has pleaded guilty "for laundering $28 million in connection with a massive bribery and money laundering scheme involving Odebrecht S.A., a Brazil-based global construction conglomerate".

Criminal Information under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act alleging the payment of bribes to "foreign officials" of Al Nasr Company for Coke and Chemicals, described as "an Egyptian state-owned and state-controlled entity", in USA v. Frederick Cushmore Jr., described as a citizen of the United States residing in Connecticut, at the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Petition to Confirm and Enforce Arbitral Award in Hidroeléctrica Santa Rita SA, of Guatemala v. Corporación AIC SA, of Guatemala, at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Complaint seeking damages of $10.6 million for "the unlawful takings and retakings of certain properties belonging to Plaintiffs in Ethiopia in violation of international law" in Fremichael Ghebreyesus, individually and as Trustee of the Estate of Ghebreyesus Ghebrelul Fremichael, deceased; and Simret Zerai Yohannes, a.k.a. Semret Zereyohans Keleb v. the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, the City of Addis Ababa, the Sub-City of Bole, Addis Ababa; the Federal First Instance Court of Ethiopia, and Brook Bekele Beshah, of Las Vegas, Nevada,, at the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence from the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Portugal - for a criminal investigation into "Luis Manuel de Paiva Gomes Cunha Ribeiro, Joaquim Paulo Lalanda e Castro, and Manuela Carvalho for corruption, bribery, and receiving an undue advantage".

Deferred Prosecution Agreement in USA v. Credit Suisse Group AG, of Switzerland, at the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Plea Agreement regarding a fraud involving Mozambique in USA v. Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited, described as "a wholly-owned subsidiary of Credit Suisse headquartered in London, United Kingdom", at the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Criminal Information alleging conspiracy to commit wire fraud involving Mozambique in USA v. Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited, described as "a wholly-owned subsidiary of Credit Suisse Group AG headquartered in London, United Kingdom", at the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Criminal Information alleging conspiracy to commit wire fraud involving Mozambique in USA v. Credit Suisse Group Ag at the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Credit Suisse's operations in Switzerland and England have admitted swindling investors and agreed to pay $475M in penalties as part of a "Coordinated Global Resolution" of fraud and corruption allegations regarding loan and securities offerings involving the Republic of Mozambique.

Administrative Order by the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission imposing penalties totaling $99 million on Credit Suisse Group AG, of Switzerland, regarding "an offering fraud and violations of the internal accounting controls and books and records provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ... in connection with three interconnected transactions involving, among others, United Kingdom-based Credit Suisse entities and Mozambican state-owned entities".

Criminal Indictment alleging conspiracy to commit money laundering and bribery of a public official in Ecuador and involving companies in Panama in USA v. Jorge Cherrez Miño, described as a citizen of Ecuador who managed "U.S. Investment Fund Companies", and John Luzuriaga Aguinaga, described as a citizen of Ecuador who was "Risk Director" of the Instituto de Seguridad Social de la Policia Nacional, a.k.a. ISSPOL, at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.