Samsung Shipbuilder Settles Petrobras Bribery Charges for $75 Million -- 2nd Update
November 25 2019 - 8:07PM
Dow Jones News
By Dylan Tokar and Patrick Chu
A shipbuilding subsidiary of South Korea's Samsung Group agreed
to pay $75 million to settle bribery charges stemming from a
corruption scheme involving Brazil's state-controlled energy
company.
Samsung Heavy Industries Co. Ltd., which builds ships and
offshore oil platforms, on Friday entered into a deferred
prosecution agreement in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia, the U.S. Justice Department said.
The company was charged with conspiracy to violate the
antibribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
"We deeply regret the company's involvement in these events,
which is contrary to our values and ethical standards," Samsung
Heavy Industries Chief Executive Joon Ou Nam said in a statement.
"Over the past years, we have taken extensive steps, at our own
initiative, to strengthen our anti-corruption compliance program to
meet the highest standards of compliance and ethics."
Samsung Heavy Industries paid $20 million to a Brazilian
intermediary from 2007 until 2013, which used portions of the funds
to bribe officials at Petróleo Brasileiro S.A., more commonly known
as Petrobras, according to court filings.
The bribes were paid to facilitate the sale of an offshore oil
drillship to a Houston-based company, which chartered the ship to
Petrobras, court papers said. Samsung Heavy Industries took steps
to further the bribery conspiracy from its office in the U.S., the
filings said.
The $75 million criminal fine will be split with Brazilian
authorities, prosecutors said.
The company received a 20% discount off the penalty, and was
credited by prosecutors for its cooperation and for hiring
additional compliance staff and creating new anticorruption
policies, training programs and due diligence procedures.
But prosecutors said the company didn't receive as much credit
as it could have, because of its failure to meet deadlines imposed
by the Justice Department and delays it caused to a final
settlement.
Write to Dylan Tokar at dylan.tokar@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 25, 2019 19:52 ET (00:52 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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