Source: https://www.wilmerhale.com/insights/publications/the-increased-prosecution-of-individuals-under-the-fcpa-trends-and-implications-january-7-2010
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 04:19:55+00:00

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In this article we analyze the recent increase in the prosecution of individuals in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA") cases, identifying trends among these cases and examining the fact patterns in the most recent individual cases.
During the last two years, there has been a spike in the number of FCPA cases brought against individuals. In 2007 and 2008, the Department of Justice ("DOJ") and Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") brought cases against over 30 individuals, substantially more than in prior years. That trend has continued in 2009.
Whatever the reasons, there is no question that both the DOJ and SEC are focusing on bringing cases against individuals, and that is further reason why individuals who engage in international business transactions, particularly in high-risk countries and high-risk industries, are well advised to be aware of these risks and to take appropriate steps to address them.
Although there is a general trend toward increased prosecution of individuals, there has been very little in the public statements of the enforcement authorities about which cases the government is likely to pursue and which it is not. A close review of the recent cases yields some helpful indications. While it is always difficult to categorize cases with precision, it is fair to say that FCPA cases against individuals historically have mainly involved managers of American companies, as well as some public figures, who have had personal involvement in improper activity. Such cases have been brought more recently, and we assume will continue to be brought in the future.
Recent cases against individuals do not follow neat patterns, but it seems, perhaps unsurprisingly, that these cases have followed some of the trends in enforcement activity against companies.7 For example, the government continues its efforts to extend the reach of the FCPA statute and is pursuing expansive jurisdictional theories in those efforts against both corporations and individuals. The government also continues to pursue cases involving third parties and intermediaries, and recent cases have involved charges against such individuals. Relatedly, the government is increasingly holding accountable individuals who may not have had direct knowledge or involvement in bribery but have turned a "blind eye" on bribery or who, in their role as corporate officers, may have been in a position to detect and stop the bad conduct. Recent cases also reflect the government's willingness to pursue not only government bribery but also commercial bribery.
These various cases against individuals have produced (and will continue to produce) new legal and investigatory developments that will prove interesting and informative.
Cases against individuals historically have involved American business managers or public figures involved personally in significant wrongdoing.
Consistent with these cases, Albert "Jack" Stanley, an American citizen and former CEO of the American company Kellogg, Brown and Root ("KBR"), pleaded guilty in September 2008 to conspiring to violate the FCPA, among other things.15 Stanley was involved in a decade-long scheme to obtain $6 billion dollars' worth of engineering, procurement, and construction contracts by paying millions of dollars in bribes to Nigerian government officials.16 Stanley admitted that he knew that at least some of the more than $180 million paid to Nigerian consulting firms would be used to pay bribes to local government officials.17 Stanley's position as the CEO of an American company, coupled with the staggering amount of the bribes paid and the value of the contracts at issue, is squarely within federal prosecutors' traditional scope for individual prosecutions.
As with a number of recent corporate cases where the U.S. nexus has been quite minimal, in at least two recent prosecutions, the government has pursued FCPA cases against foreign executives at foreign companies.
On September 23, 2008, Christian Sapsizian, a French citizen and executive of the French telecommunications company Alcatel, was sentenced to 30 months in prison for his involvement in "an elaborate bribery scheme to obtain a mobile telephone contract from the state-owned telecommunications authority in Costa Rica by making more than $2.5 million in corrupt payments to Costa Rican officials."24 Alcatel was awarded a $149 million mobile telephone contract by the Costa Rican telecommunications authority.25 The jurisdictional hook in the case was that Alcatel traded American Depository Receipts on the New York Stock Exchange; DOJ alleged that Sapsizian was an employee and agent of Alcatel, an "issuer."26 Notably, the DOJ did not allege that Sapsizian entered the U.S. or took any actions while physically present in the U.S. Rather, the DOJ only charged that Sapsizian, sitting in his office in France, wired improper payments from banks in Miami to bank accounts in Costa Rica.
FCPA charges against companies and their employees routinely involve improper payments made with the assistance of third parties. In 2009, two individual intermediaries themselves were charged.
Related to the third-party intermediary cases are cases in which the government has pursued anti-bribery charges using the FCPA's broad knowledge standard. The FCPA prohibits not only payments to foreign officials, but payments to others while "knowing" that all or some of the payment will be passed on to a foreign official.41 Actual knowledge is not required, and a violation can be proved where the defendant was aware that such a payment was "substantially certain to occur."42 Moreover, under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, a "control person" may be held liable for the violations of others, even where the control person had no personal involvement in or knowledge of the improper activity.43 The DOJ and SEC have used these provisions (for the first time in the case of the control person provision) in recent cases to charge individuals with FCPA violations.
Likewise, in the recent trial and conviction of Frederic Bourke, the DOJ indicated that it is willing to pursue not only "willfully blind" corporate officers like Martin Self but also individual investors who invest in enterprises they know or should know are involved in the making of corrupt payments to foreign government officials. Bourke invested $8 million in a consortium involved in the privatization of the state oil company in the Azerbaijan Republic.50 The consortium was run primarily by Viktor Kozeny, who allegedly paid bribes to various government officials in Azerbaijan.51 Some of the bribes at issue were paid before Bourke even became involved in the transaction.52 The bribes ranged from cash to a shopping spree for an Azeri official's daughter and were allegedly provided to officials ranging from the former president of Azerbaijan to officials at the government agency that was overseeing the privatization.53 The government did not allege that Bourke was involved in or approved the payment of the bribes, although the government did establish at trial that Bourke helped two of the corrupt Azeri officials obtain medical treatment in New York City and that he knew that the officials' medical bills were being paid by a company controlled by Kozeny.54 Apparently lacking "smoking gun" evidence that Bourke knew the enterprise was paying bribes, the government argued to the jury that Bourke either knew or "willfully avoided learning" about possible bribery in the enterprise by "sticking his head in the sand."55 The government introduced several key pieces of evidence supporting that theory.
Finally, the SEC recently filed an FCPA settled enforcement against two individual officers of a company where there was no allegation that the executives either had personal knowledge of the alleged bribery or turned a blind eye to misconduct.63 Rather, the complaint was premised solely on the grounds that the two officers failed to supervise senior managers in order to ensure that proper books and records were kept and that proper internal controls were maintained.64 This kind of "control person" liability has been used before by the SEC — e.g., in the Tyco, WorldCom, and Enron cases — but has never been used before in an FCPA case. The SEC's extension of this theory to the FCPA represents an expansion of potential liability for individual corporate officers.
In a number of recent cases against companies, the DOJ and SEC have pursued allegations of commercial bribery, which cannot be charged under the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA because of the absence of a foreign official.77 Such cases can be brought under the accounting provisions of the FCPA, which do not require the presence of a foreign official (and do not even require a corrupt payment), or under the Travel Act, which makes it a federal crime to travel in or use the mail or any facility in interstate or foreign commerce in order to engage in certain unlawful activity, including bribery, that violates state or federal law.78 Nothing in these statutes limits their application to companies, and, indeed, they have recently been applied in the prosecution of individuals.
FCPA cases have traditionally almost always involved the investigation and/or prosecution of companies, sometimes with parallel proceedings against the officers who engaged in or authorized the improper payments. A couple of recent cases have deviated somewhat from this traditional model.
The government also prosecuted Shu Quan-Sheng, who was the President, Secretary, and Treasurer of AMAC International, on FCPA charges related to Shu's payment of $189,300 in bribes to Chinese officials at a research institute while trying to obtain a $4 million contract for a French company whom Shu represented.91 Like the case involving the Greens, AMAC appears to be a small company largely controlled by Shu. Additionally, Shu is a naturalized U.S. citizen and Ph.D. physicist who, in addition to violating the FCPA, also violated the Arms Export Control Act by willfully exporting a defense service to China without first obtaining the required U.S. approval or export license.
Finally, in the Faheem Mousa Salam case, a civilian translator and former employee of a defense contractor working in Iraq pleaded guilty to violating the FCPA by offering a bribe to a senior Iraqi police official.92 Salam's employer, Titan Corporation, was not charged because Salam's actions apparently were unrelated to his work as a translator. The prosecution of Salam is a useful reminder that even an attempted bribe that is not effective in obtaining business can violate the FCPA.
Again, these cases show that FCPA cases do not all involve corporate voluntary disclosures and/or corporate cooperation. This phenomenon is consistent with the government's stated intention to rely more on traditional investigative techniques.
The recent trend of prosecuting individuals for FCPA violations is likely to continue and grow over the next several years. The DOJ and SEC have marshaled additional resources for FCPA prosecutions and have made clear that they intend to deploy those resources towards individuals as well as companies. There are likely to be several interesting results of increased FCPA cases against individuals.
First, unlike companies, individuals are more likely not to settle and to go to trial, despite the fact that trials on FCPA charges are a daunting prospect: since 1991, the DOJ has not lost a single FCPA case at trial. Obtaining documents and witnesses from overseas is a major challenge for defendants, as demonstrated in the recent Jefferson and Bourke trials. Current FCPA "law" comes largely from uncontested, settled proceedings. Because prosecuting more individuals will lead to more trials and more litigation, the government's theories of FCPA jurisdiction, culpability, and other issues will be subjected to judicial scrutiny and review. Undoubtedly, this will lead to more published FCPA cases and the body of FCPA law will grow and be refined.
Second, cases may be brought against companies and/or individuals that previously might have been difficult for the government to bring successfully. Because the government has proven that it is willing to indict, try, and incarcerate individuals, these individuals have a powerful incentive to cooperate with the government. The cooperation of these individuals may provide the government with information and testimony that it may not otherwise have been able to secure.
Jay Holtmeier is a partner in the firm's Litigation/Controversy Department, and a member of the Investigations and Criminal Litigation Practice Group. Mr. Holtmeier represents institutions and individuals in complex government and internal investigations and matters of corporate governance and compliance. He has particular expertise in matters involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Mr. Holtmeier may be reached by e-mail at: [email protected].
Kimberly A. Parker is a partner in the firm's Litigation/Controversy Department, and a member of the Investigations and Criminal Litigation Practice Group. Ms. Parker's practice focuses on white-collar criminal matters, internal corporate investigations, congressional investigations, and matters involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Ms. Parker may be reached by e-mail at: [email protected].
Roger M. Witten is a partner in the firm's Litigation/Controversy Department, and a member of the Investigations and Criminal Litigation and Government and Regulatory Litigation Practice Groups. His practice emphasizes complex international and domestic litigation, internal corporate investigations, law enforcement matters and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) matters. Mr. Witten may be reached by email at: [email protected].
Lillian Howard Potter is a counsel in the firm's Litigation/Controversy Department, and a member of the Investigations and Criminal Litigation Practice Group. Ms. Potter's practice focuses on government investigations and federal criminal and civil litigation. Ms. Potter may be reached by e-mail at: [email protected].
1Mendelsohn Says Criminal Bribery Prosecutions Doubled in 2007, 22 CORP. CRIME REP. 36(1), September 16, 2008, available at http://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/mendelsohn091608.htm.
3 Robert Khuzami, Remarks Before the New York City Bar: My First 100 Days as Director of Enforcement (August 5, 2009), available at http://www.sec.gov/news/speech/2009/spch080509rk.htm.
4See Dealing with the DOJ, http://fcpablog.blogspot.com/2009/01/dealing-withdoj. html (January 28, 2009) (noting that in 2008 there were only 16 deferred and non prosecution agreements, down from 40 in 2007).
5See, e.g., Eric Lichtblau, Leniency For Big Corporations in the U.S., N.Y. TIMES, April 9, 2008.
6 Peter J. Henning, The Organizational Guidelines: R.I.P.?, 116 YALE L.J. POCKET PART 312, 314 (2007), available at http://www.thepocketpart.org /2007/03/20/henning.html.
7See, e.g., Roger M. Witten and Jay Holtmeier, A Spiraling Caseload Under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, N.Y.L.J., February 9, 2009.
8See Press Release, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, American Businessman Charged with $78 Million in Unlawful Payments to Kazakh Officials in 6 Oil Transactions; Former Mobil Corp. Executive Indicted for Tax Evasion in Kickback Scheme (April 2, 2003), http://www.justice.gov/usao/nys/pressreleases/April03/giffenwilliams.pdf.
11Kenneth N. Gilpin, Former Mobil Oil Executive Pleads Guilty to Tax Evasion, N.Y. TIMES, June 13, 2003.
12See James Giffen and America's Secrets, http://fcpablog.blogspot.com/2009/07/james-giffen-and-americas-secrets.html (July 16, 2009).
13 See U.S. v. David Kay and Douglas Murphy, No. H-01-914 (S.D. Tex. 2001).
14See, e.g., Press Release, U.S. Department of Justice, Former HealthSouth Officers Indicted in Connection with Bribery Involving Saudi Hospital (July 1, 2004), http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2004/July/04_crm_463.htm (indictment of former divisional President and Chief Operating Officer and former Vice President of Legal Services in case involving payment of $2.5 million in bribes on $50 million contract); U.S. v. Lockheed Corp., Allen R. Love, and Suleiman A. Nassar, No. 1:94-cr-00226 (N.D. Ga. 1994) (indictment of regional vice-president of Lockheed International and sales director for Lockheed subsidiary in case involving scheme to pay more than $1 million in bribes on $79 million contract); U.S. v. Harry G. Carpenter and W.S. Kirkpatrick & Co., No. 85-353 (D.N.J. 1985) (indictment of chief executive officer and chairman of Board of Directors in case involving payment of $1.7 million in bribes on contract worth more than $10 million).
15See Press Release, U.S. Department of Justice, Former Officer and Director of Global Engineering and Construction Company Pleads Guilty to Foreign Bribery and Kickback Charges (Sept. 3, 2008), http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/pr/press_releases/2008/09/09-03-08stanleyguilty.pdf.
18 Press Release, U.S. Department of Justice, Former World Bank Employee Sentenced for Taking Kickbacks and Assisting in the Bribery of a Foreign Official (April 25, 2008), http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/pr/press_releases/2008/04/04-25-08_world-bank-empsent.pdf.
20See Press Release, U.S. Agency for International Development, Investigation of International Fraudulent Conspiracy Results in Incarceration for Two Co-conspirators (November 27, 2002), http://www.usaid.gov/oig/press/pressrelease_1127_02_132.pdf.
22 See Tim Morris, William Jefferson Verdict: Guilty On 11 of 16 Counts, NEW ORLEANS TIMES-PICAYUNE, August 5, 2009.
24See Press Release, U.S. Department of Justice, Former Alcatel CIT Executive Sentenced for Paying $2.5 Million in Bribes to Senior Costa Rican Officials (September 23, 2008), http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2008/September/08-crm-848.html.
25See Press Release, U.S. Department of Justice, Former Alcatel Executive Pleads Guilty to Participation in Payment of $2.5 Million in Bribes to Senior Costa Rican Officials to Obtain a Mobile Telephone Contract (June 7, 2007), http://miami.fbi.gov/dojpressrl/pressrel08/mm20080923.htm.
27See Press Release, U.S. Department of Justice, Japanese Executive Pleads Guilty, Sentenced to Two Years in Jail for Participating in Conspiracies to Rig Bids and Bribe Foreign Officials to Purchase Marine Hose and Related Products (December 10, 2008), http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2008/December/08-at-1084.html; see also Bridgestone Exec In U.S. Cartel Bust, JAPAN TIMES, May 5, 2007.
28Id.; see also U.S. v. Hioki, No. 4:08-cr-00795 (S.D. Tex. 2008).
29 15 U.S.C. § 78dd-3(a).
30See U.S. v. Hioki, No. 4:08-cr-00795 (S.D. Tex. 2008).
31See Press Release, U.S. Department of Justice, Two UK Citizens Charged by United States with Bribing Nigerian Government Officials to Obtain Lucrative Contracts as Part of KBR Joint Venture Scheme (March 5, 2009), http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/March/09-crm-192.html.
32See U.S. v. Jeffrey Tesler and Wojciech J. Chodan, No. H-09-098 (S.D. Tex. 2009).
35See Press Release, U.S. Department of Justice, supra note 31.
36 See Press Release, U.S. Department of Justice, Canadian National Charged with Foreign Bribery and Paying Kickbacks Under the Oil for Food Program (July 31, 2009), http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/July/09-crm-757.html.
38See US Seeks UAE Resident on Conspiracy Charge, THE NATIONAL (UAE), August 1, 2009, available athttp://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090801/FOREIGN/708019990/0/SPORT.
39See Press Release, U.S. Department of Justice, Two Florida Businessmen Plead Guilty to Participating in a Conspiracy to Bribe Foreign Government Officials and Money Laundering (May 15, 2009), http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/May/09-crm-476.html.
41 15 U.S.C. § 78dd-1(a)(3).
42 15 U.S.C. §§ 78dd-1(f)(2)(A)(i), 78dd-2(h)(3)(A)(i), 78dd-3(f)(3)(A)(i).
43 See 15 U.S.C. § 78t(a).
44See Press Release, U.S. Department of Justice, Former Pacific Consolidated Industries LP Executive Pleads Guilty in Connection With Bribes Paid to U.K. Ministry of Defense Official (September 3, 2009), http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/pr/press_releases/2009/09/09-03-09smith-guilty.pdf.
45Id.; see also Press Release, U.S. Department of Justice, Former Pacific Consolidated Industries LP Executive Pleads Guilty in Connection With Bribes Paid to U.K. Ministry of Defense Official (May 8, 2008), http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/pr/press_releases/2008/05/05-08-08self-pleads.pdf.
46See U.S. v. Martin Eric Self, No. 8:08-cr-00110 (C.D. Cal. 2008).
50See Press Release, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Connecticut Investor Found Guilty in Scheme to Bribe Government Officials in Azerbaijan (July 10, 2009), http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/nys/pressreleases/July09/bourkefrederickverdictpr.pdf; see also David Glovin, Aliyev Bribery Scheme Hatched in Deputy's Office, Witness Says, BLOOMBERG, June 4, 2009.
51 Kozeny also was indicted on FCPA and other charges. He is reportedly in the Bahamas, where he is fighting extradition attempts by U.S. and Czech authorities.
53Id.; see also Tony Allen-Mills, Pirate of Prague Faces Extradition, THE SUNDAY TIMES (LONDON), October 9, 2005.
55 Mark Hamblett, Defendant Was Aware of Bribes, Jury Told, N.Y.L.J., July 7, 2009.
56See U.S. v. Kozeny, ___ F.Supp.2d ___, 2009 WL 1514369 (S.D.N.Y. May 29, 2009).
57 Adam Klasfeld, Azeri Oil Bribery Trial Wrapping Up Today, COURTHOUSE NEWS SERVICE, July 7, 2009.
58 David Glovin, Bourke Tape Will Play Central Role in Bribery Trial, BLOOMBERG, June 2, 2009.
59 See Adam Klasfeld, Jurors Feel for Bourke But Convict Him, COURTHOUSE NEWS SERVICE, July 10, 2009; see also David Glovin, Mitchell, Obama Envoy, Says He Didn't Know of Oil-Deal Bribes, BLOOMBERG, June 20, 2009.
60 Glovin, supra note 59.
61 Klasfeld, supra note 59.
62 Mark Hamblett, Entrepreneur is Found Guilty of Conspiracy in Azerbaijan Case, N.Y.L.J., July 13, 2009.
63See Press Release, Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC Charges Nature's Sunshine Products, Inc. with Making Illegal Foreign Payments (July 31, 2009),http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2009/lr21162.htm.
65See SEC v. Nature's Sunshine Products, Inc., Douglas Faggioli, and Craig D. Huff, No. 2:09CV0672 (D. Utah 2009).
72See In the Matter of Nature's Sunshine Products, Inc., Exchange Act Release No. 59268 (January 21, 2009), available athttp://www.sec.gov/litigation/opinions/2009/34-59268.pdf.
73 17 CFR § 230.405.
74See Erin L. Massey, Control Person Liability Under Section 20(a): Striking a Balance of Interest for Plaintiffs and Defendants, 5 HOUS. BUS. & TAX L.J. 109, 114 (2005).
75Id. The majority test, known as the "potential control" test, focuses on "whether the defendant had the potential to, or actually did, control the primary violator," — i.e., the person who violated the Act. Id. at 118. Some circuits applying this test require that it be proved that (1) the defendant actually participated in the operations of the corporation or person, in the general sense, and (2) the defendant had the power to control the specific transaction that is the subject of the primary violation. Id. The minority test, known as the "culpable participation" test, which is applied in New York, requires that a person (1) have exercised control over the primary violator and (b) have been meaningfully involved in the fraud forming the primary violation. Id. at 115. A third view, which is not generally widely applied today, looks only at a person's position within a company and his or her relationship to the primary violator, which could lead to a nearly "strict liability" view of control person liability. See Laura Greco, The Buck Stops Where? Defining Controlling Person Liability, 73 S. CAL. L. REV., Vol. 169, 173–174 (1999).
76See 15 U.S.C. § 78t(a) ("Every person who, directly or indirectly, controls any person liable under any provision of this chapter or of any rule or regulation thereunder shall also be liable jointly and severally with and to the same extent as such controlled person to any person to whom such controlled person is liable…”).
77See, e.g., Press Release, U.S. Department of Justice, Control Components, Inc. Pleads Guilty to Foreign Bribery Charges and Agrees to Pay $18.2 Million Criminal Fine (July 31, 2009), http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2009/July/09-crm-754.html; Press Release, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC Files Settled Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Charges Against York International Corporation for Improper Payments to UAE Officials, to Iraq Under the U.N. Oil for Food Program, and to Others — Company Agrees to Pay Over $12 Million and to Retain an Independent Compliance Monitor (October 1, 2007), http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2007/lr20319.htm; Press Release, U.S. Department of Justice, Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc.'s Subsidiary Pleads Guilty to Foreign Bribes and Agrees to Pay a $7.5 Million Criminal Fine (October 16, 2006),http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/pr/press_releases/2006/10/2006_4809_10-16-06schnitzerfraud.pdf.
78 18 U.S.C. § 1952.
79See Press Release, U.S. Department of Justice, Former Senior Officer of Schnitzer Steel Industries Inc. Subsidiary Pleads Guilty to Foreign Bribes (June 29, 2007), http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2007/June/07_crm_474.html; see also Press Release, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC Settles Charges Against Former Portland Steel Executive for Anti-Bribery Statute Violations (June 29, 2007), http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2007/lr20174.htm.
80See Press Release, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC Charges Former Chairman/CEO of Schnitzer Steel for Authorizing Cash Bribes to Foreign Officials (December 13, 2007), http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2007/lr20397.htm.
81See, e.g., U.S. v. Control Components, Inc., No. 09-162 (C.D. Cal. 2009).
82See Control Components Inc. Pleads Guilty to Foreign Bribery Charges and Agrees to Pay, REUTERS, July 31, 2009.
84See Press Release, U.S. Department of Justice, Former Finance Director of California Valve Company Pleads Guilty to Bribing Foreign Government Officials (February 3, 2009),http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/February/09-crm-089.html; see also Press Release, U.S. Department of Justice, Former Executive at California Valve Company Pleads Guilty to Bribing Foreign Government Officials (January 8, 2009), http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/January/09-crm-016.html.
85See Press Release, U.S. Department of Justice, Film Executive and Spouse Found Guilty of Paying Bribes to a Senior Thai Tourism Official to Obtain Lucrative Contracts (Sept. 14, 2009), http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/September/09-crm-952.html.
87See Greg Risling, LA Trial in Thai Film Festival Bribery Case Begins, ASSOCIATED PRESS, August 26, 2009.
89See Glenn F. Bunting, $78 million of red ink?, L.A. TIMES, April 15, 2007 (describing line items for "local bribes" and "political/mayoral support" in budget for movie Sahara).
90See Ben Fritz, Hollywood producers are guilty of bribing Thai official, L.A. TIMES, September 15, 2009.
91See Press Release, U.S. Department of Justice, Virginia Physicist Sentenced to 51 Months in Prison for Illegally Exporting Space Launch Data to China and Offering Bribes to Chinese Officials (April 7, 2009), http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/pr/press_releases/2009/04/04-07-09_sheng-sent.pdf.
92See Press Release, U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Civilian Translator Pleads Guilty to Offering Bribe to Iraqi Police Official (August 4, 2006), http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2006/August/06_crm_500.html.
93See Emma Schwartz, Hiking the Cost of Bribery, U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT, August 5, 2007.
94See Press Release, U.S. Department of Justice, supra note 27.

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