New York Paralegal Blog

In today's interconnected world, businesses often operate across borders, creating incredible opportunities – and significant responsibilities. One of the most critical of these responsibilities, particularly for U.S. companies, is adhering to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). You might be wondering, "What does this mean for a company, and who helps them navigate this complex legal landscape?" That's where a Compliance Paralegal comes in. What is the FCPA, in a Nutshell? The FCPA, a U.S. federal law, was enacted to prevent American companies and individuals from bribing foreign government officials to gain or retain business. It's built on two main pillars: Anti-bribery provisions: These prohibit making, offering, or authorizing corrupt payments or "anything of value" to foreign officials. The definition of "anything of value" is broad and can include gifts, travel, entertainment, or even charitable donations if made with co...

Washington, D.C., Aug. 7, 2012 – The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Pfizer Inc. with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) when its subsidiaries bribed doctors and other health care professionals employed by foreign governments in order to win business.

Power Supplier Fired Jehovah’s Witness for Wanting One Day Off to Attend Religious Convention, Federal Agency Charges FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Ozarks Electric Cooperative Corporation, an electric power supplier located in Fayetteville, Ark., violated federal law by firing an employee because of her religious practices, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed today.

WASHINGTON—Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has agreed to pay a $21.4 million criminal penalty as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice to resolve improper payments by J&J subsidiaries to government officials in Greece, Poland, and Romania in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the Justice Department’s Criminal Division announced today. The agreement also resolves kickbacks paid to the former government of Iraq under the United Nations Oil for Food Program. J&J is headquartered in New Brunswick, N.J., and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The company manufactures and sells medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer health care products.

WASHINGTON - Comverse Technology Inc. (CTI), a New York City headquartered corporation, has agreed to pay a $1.2 million penalty for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division. CTI, through its main operating subsidiary Comverse Inc. and Comverse Inc.’s subsidiaries, is a global provider of software and software systems for communication and billing services. According to the non-prosecution agreement, CTI has accepted responsibility for violating the books and records provisions of the FCPA arising from and related to CTI’s failure to record accurately certain improper payments that were made between 2003 and 2006 by employees and a third-party agent of Comverse Inc. subsidiaries to individuals connected to OTE, a Greek telecommunications provider, in order to obtain purchase orders. The payments, totaling approximately $536,000, were inaccurately characterized as legitimate agent commission...

WASHINGTON – JGC Corporation has agreed to pay a $218.8 million criminal penalty to resolve charges related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for its participation in a decade-long scheme to bribe Nigerian government officials to obtain engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts, the Justice Department’s Criminal Division announced today. With today’s resolution, each of the four companies in the TSKJ joint venture, the former chairman of the U.S. joint venture partner, and several other individuals have now been held accountable for a massive conspiracy to bribe Nigerian government officials to obtain lucrative construction contracts,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The approximately $1.5 billion in criminal and civil penalties that have been imposed on the members of the joint venture far exceed their profits from the scheme. Foreign bribery is a serious crime, and as this ca...

By signing HALT's Lawyer Discipline Best Practices Petition, you will be calling on the officials of your state's attorney discipline system to institute 10 reasonable reforms - including disclosing a lawyer's complete disciplinary history, opening lawyer discipline hearings to everyone and issuing strong sanctions, such as permanent disbarment, when lawyers behave unethically. Internet-generated petitions have more weight when you stand behind what you are signing. Therefore, we encourage you to give your full name, email address, and city as well as any comments you want to share with HALT and your state bar about lawyer discipline. Click here for more information and to sign the petition.

Technip S.A., a global engineering, construction and services company based in Paris, has agreed to pay a $240 million criminal penalty to resolve charges related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for its participation in a decade-long scheme to bribe Nigerian government officials to obtain engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts, the Department of Justice announced today. The EPC contracts to build liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities on Bonny Island, Nigeria, were valued at more than $6 billion. The department filed a deferred prosecution agreement and a criminal information against Technip in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. The two-count information charges Technip with one count of conspiracy and one count of violating the FCPA. Technip’s American Depository Shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange from 2001 until 2007.

Company Admits to More Than 200 Payments in Over 30 Countries Control Components Inc. (CCI), a Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.-based company, pleaded guilty today to violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the Travel Act in a decade-long scheme to secure contracts in approximately 36 countries by paying bribes to officials and employees of various foreign state-owned companies as well as foreign and domestic private companies. Today, CCI entered guilty pleas to a three-count criminal information before U.S. District Judge James V. Selna in the Central District of California, Santa Ana Division. CCI designs and manufactures service control valves for use in the nuclear, oil and gas, and power generation industries. As part of the plea agreement, CCI agreed to pay a criminal fine of $18.2 million; create, implement and maintain a comprehensive anti-bribery compliance program; retain an independent compliance monitor for a three-year period to review the design and i...

Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced his office has sued 35 law firms and two debt collectors in New York State in order to throw out an estimated 100,000 default judgments improperly obtained against New York consumers. This is the latest action in Cuomo’s ongoing investigation into unlawful debt collection practices. According to the lawsuit filed yesterday in New York State Supreme Court, Erie County, the companies relied on a Long Island company, American Legal Process (ALP), to notify New York consumers that they faced debt-related lawsuits. ALP, however, failed to properly serve consumers across the state with legal papers, causing thousands to unknowingly default and have costly judgments entered against them without the chance to respond or defend themselves. In April of this year, Cuomo’s Office announced criminal and civil cases against ALP and its owner, William Singler, for this fraudulent business scheme. Today’s lawsuit is an effort to provide relief to the th...

(USDOJ) WASHINGTON – Siemens Aktiengesellschaft (Siemens AG), a German corporation, and three of its subsidiaries today pleaded guilty to violations of and charges related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the Department of Justice and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced. At a hearing before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon in the District of Columbia, Siemens AG pleaded guilty to a two-count information charging criminal violations of the FCPA’s internal controls and books and records provisions. Siemens S.A.- Argentina (Siemens Argentina) pleaded guilty to a one-count information charging conspiracy to violate the books and records provisions of the FCPA. Siemens Bangladesh Limited (Siemens Bangladesh) and Siemens S.A. - Venezuela (Siemens Venezuela), each pleaded guilty to separate one-count informations charging conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery and books and records provisions of the FCPA. As part of the plea agreements, Siemens AG agreed to pay...