The Federal Maritime Commission opened a proceeding against attorney Marcus Nussbaum pertaining to alleged professional misconduct, in which Nussbaum will have a chance to show cause why he should not be hit with a penalty or suspension of his ability to practice before the comission.
The U.S. fined German software company SAP SE more than $200 million for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, saying it bribed government officials in South Africa, Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Indonesia and Azerbaijan to secure business contracts. The company agreed to a nearly $100 million settlement with the SEC and faces a $118.8 million criminal penalty, along with a forfeiture, as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with DOJ.
Navy Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao was sentenced to 27 months in prison and ordered to pay a $5,500 fine for sending U.S. military information to a Chinese intelligence officer, DOJ announced. Zhao pleaded guilty in October to one count of conspiring with an intelligence officer and one count of receiving a bribe, DOJ said.
Three siblings recently pleaded guilty to trying to smuggle ammunition from the U.S. to Mexico, DOJ announced last week. The agency said Rolando, Ashley and Yamileth Herrera worked together to buy thousands of rounds of ammunition from a sporting goods store before trying to ship the ammo to people in Mexico. All three are U.S. citizens with residences in Mexico.
The U.S. brought enforcement actions under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act against 13 companies in 2023, resulting in $776 million in penalties, a drop from the $1.5 billion in penalties announced in 2022 but up from $282 million in penalties from 2021, a Jan. 2 FCPA Blog post said. While the 2023 penalty total value was lower than in 2022, there were more companies penalized than in either 2022 or 2021, which saw eight and four companies, respectively, penalized. The blog said the average resolution amount announced by DOJ and the SEC was $59.6 million, with total financial settlements the lowest since 2021 and the second lowest since 2015.
New Hampshire-headquartered NuDay was sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay a $25,000 fine after it filed false export information, DOJ said Dec. 28. The agency said the five-year probation sentence for NuDay, founded as a nonprofit charity, was the “maximum penalty for an organizational defendant.”
A Georgia businessman, a former Honduran government official and a former Florida resident were charged with allegedly participating in a scheme to pay and hide bribes to Honduran government officials to "secure contracts to provide uniforms and other goods" to the Honduran National Police, DOJ said.
Robert Alcantara of Providence, Rhode Island, was sentenced to 68 months in prison for illegally exporting over 100 "ghost guns" to the Dominican Republic, according to DOJ.
Thirteen Khmer antiquities linked to art dealer Douglas Latchford are being returned to Cambodia, DOJ announced last week. The now-deceased Latchford was previously indicted for leading a scheme to sell "looted Cambodian antiquities on the international art market." In the indictment, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York alleged that Latchford sold the goods via false statements and fake provenance documents (see 2201110078). The items, which were housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, were repatriated by the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Homeland Security Investigations New York Field Office.
A Kansas business owner pleaded guilty Dec. 19 for his part in a scheme to violate U.S. export laws by filing false export forms and shipping "sophisticated and controlled" avionics equipment to Russian customers without export licenses, DOJ announced. Cyril Buyanovsky, owner of KanRus Trading Co. also agreed to forfeit over $450,000 worth of avionics equipment along with a $50,000 personal forfeiture. He faces a maximum of 25 years in prison.