Three election voting machine and service provider company executives, along with a former chairman of the Philippines' Commission on Elections, were charged with bribing officials in the Philippines to retain business in the 2016 Philippines elections, DOJ announced. A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida returned an indictment against the four men Aug. 8, charging two of them with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and violating the FCPA.
Companies should generally lean toward disclosing serious violations to the government -- especially those that involve national security issues -- even if there’s almost no chance the violation will be discovered, lawyers said last week.
A U.S. digital assets company and a European aerospace firm recently disclosed in financial statements that they're under investigation for possible violations of sanctions or export control laws, while an American entertainment company revealed it submitted a sanctions disclosure to the U.S. government.
DOJ reached a deal with the former general counsel of 1Malaysia Development Berhad, "Jasmine" Loo Ai Swan, to recover artwork by Pablo Picasso and a Switzerland-based financial account linked to funds allegedly taken as part of the 1MDB scheme, DOJ announced. The agency also obtained forfeiture orders on assets bought with proceeds from the scheme by Low Take Jho, also known as Jho Low, including diamond jewelry and artwork from Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet, the agency said.
A dual U.S.-Ghana citizen made his initial appearance in a New York court July 16, a day after being extradited from the U.K. for his role in a scheme to bribe Ghanaian officials, DOJ announced. Asante Kwaku Berko is charged with one count of conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, one count of violating the FCPA and one count of conspiring to commit money laundering.
Gerald Moody, former assistant chief for the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Unit of DOJ's Fraud Section, has joined Akin as a partner in the white collar defense and government investigations practice, the firm announced. Moody worked at DOJ for over eight years, starting as a federal prosecutor in the FCPA unit in 2016 and serving as assistant chief beginning in January 2021.
DOJ struck a deal with Malaysian businessman Low Taek Jho, members of his family and trust entities he established to settle two civil forfeiture cases stemming from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad international embezzlement scheme, DOJ announced.
Adam Safwat, a former deputy chief of DOJ's fraud section, has joined Foley Hoag as a partner in the white collar crime and government investigations practice, the firm announced. Safwat will be based in Washington, D.C., and will focus on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigations, sanctions, political corruption and financial fraud, the firm said. Safwat most recently was a partner at Nelson Mullins.
DOJ repatriated another $156 million in "misappropriated 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) funds to the people of Malaysia," bringing to about $1.4 billion the total returned to Malaysia from the international embezzlement scheme, the department announced June 13.
Sanctions and export control attorney Keil Ritterpusch has joined Buchanan Ingeroll as a shareholder in the international trade and national security practice group, the firm announced May 13. Ritterpusch has worked across the defense, aerospace and software sectors and has helped clients put in place compliance programs involving the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, Export Administration Regulations, Foreign Trade Regulations, Office of Foreign Assets Control regulations and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act requirements.