Japanese trading company Marubeni Corp. agreed to pay an $88
million fine and pleaded guilty to foreign-bribery charges in the
company's second foreign-bribery payout in three years, the U.S.
Justice Department said Wednesday.
The Tokyo-based company's plea to an eight-count
criminal-information document relates to a scheme to pay bribes to
high-ranking Indonesian officials to secure a $118 million contract
for a power project as a part of a consortium with Alstom SA. The
document charged Marubeni with one count of conspiracy and seven
counts of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bars
bribery of foreign officials for business purposes.
The consortium was awarded the contract for the power project in
2004, Marubeni said in a statement.
"The company refused to play by the rules, then refused to
cooperate with the government's investigation. Now, Marubeni faces
the consequences for its crooked business practices in Indonesia,"
said Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman in a
statement.
Prosecutors said the plea agreement notes Marubeni's lack of
cooperation in the government's probe. The plea comes just over two
years after Marubeni agreed to pay $54.6 million to resolve charges
related to its role in a decadelong scheme to bribe Nigerian
government officials for contracts. It settled that case without
admitting guilt.
Though U.S. authorities ramped up FCPA enforcement in recent
years, it is still rare for a company to have multiple
foreign-bribery payouts.
Marubeni noted the terms of the Nigerian settlement were
completed earlier this year and said it has taken "extensive
efforts to enhance its anti-corruption compliance program, and
believes that its current program is robust and effective."
"Although the agreement reached with the [Justice Department]
today does not require Marubeni to further engage a compliance
consultant, Marubeni is taking this matter seriously and commits to
thoroughly implement and enhance its anti-corruption compliance
program," it said in the statement.
The Indonesia scheme was conducted as a part of a consortium
with a company the Justice Department declined to name.
However, in a statement, prosecutors named several individuals
charged or convicted as part of the Indonesian scheme, all of whom
were former employees of Alstom. Among them was former executive
Frederic Pierucci, who pleaded guilty last year to one count of
conspiring to violate the FCPA and one count of violating the FCPA,
and David Rothschild, a former vice president of sales at Alstom
who pleaded guilty in November 2012 to one count of conspiracy.
"Alstom has been working constructively with the Department of
Justice for the last three years to address any allegations of past
misconduct. In the meantime, the company is committed to assuring
that it conducts its worldwide business with integrity and fully in
compliance with all laws and regulations," the company said in a
statement.
Samuel Rubenfeld contributed to this article.
Write to Rachel Louise Ensign at rachel.ensign@wsj.com
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