South Korea Company Penalized $75 Million After FCPA Violations
Samsung Heavy Industries Company will pay more than $75 million to settle charges that it bribed Brazilian government officials in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Justice Department said Nov. 22. The South Korea-based engineering company agreed to split its settlement in two payments of $37,740,800 to the U.S. and to Brazilian authorities, the Justice Department said.
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Between 2007 and 2013, the company worked with others to provide about $20 million to a Brazilian intermediary, which sent portions of the money as bribes to officials at Petrobras, Brazil's state-owned energy company, according to the Justice Department. The bribes ensured “business advantages” for the company, including a contract that allowed Samsung Heavy Industries to charter a drill ship to a Houston oil drilling company. Samsung Heavy Industries also worked out of its U.S. office to facilitate the bribery scheme, the Justice Department said.
As part of the settlement, the company agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department in “any ongoing investigations and prosecutions relating to the conduct,” to improve its compliance programs and to report back to the Justice Department about those improvements. Because of its cooperation and remedial measures -- including hiring additional compliance staff, introducing more training, improved anti-corruption policies and due-diligence controls -- Samsung Heavy Industries received a more lenient penalty, the Justice Department said. The company did not, however, “meet reasonable deadlines” imposed by the Justice Department, which caused delays “in reaching a resolution.” The penalty “reflects a 20 percent reduction off the bottom of the applicable United States Sentencing Guidelines fine range,” the agency said.