Bribery

The story of the former mayor of Birmingham, AL, Larry Langford, just got stranger. Sure, Langford had been charged with bribery. Sure, a federal jury decided Langford actually had taken bribes in exchange for getting bond business to an investment banker. And sure, on this past Friday, a judge sent Langford to prison for 15 years and fined him $360,000. But it also turns out that Langford has a friend who owns a bingo casino, at which

According to a new survey conducted by the international law firm Eversheds, U.S. companies operating in the U.K. are unprepared for tough new U.K. bribery laws – and 88 percent are unaware that there is a maximum jail term of 10 years under the legislation for violators. 

When an article in the business section of the New York Times begins with “Robert Watson, a top ingredient buyer for Kraft Foods, needed $20,000 to pay his taxes,” it’s time to say, uh oh. And uh oh is right.

James Traficant, the former Democratic Congressman from Ohio who had been convicted of bribery and racketeering and who served seven years in prison before being released last year, has new career plans: he is going to run for Congress! Trafficant told CNN that although he has been a Democrat his whole life, “quite frankly I am disgusted with both parties” and he will be running as an independent. 

The easy cases that violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act are those involving cash payments – bribes – in an effort to obtain business. But that’s not the only type of conduct prohibited by the FCPA. Take a look at a settlement announced last Thursday in which UTStarcom Inc. (UTSI) agreed to pay a $1.5 million fine for violating the statute.

The word "bribe" is known throughout the world. In the U.S., it has been called a pay-off, a kickback, hush money, payola, and a sweetener. It is sometimes concealed behind what is called a commission, a reward, a finder's fee, a gratuity, or a "thank you." Other countries have even more colorful language, as in India where it is known

Today is the U.N.’s International Anti-Corruption Day, but a worldwide survey of company executives suggests that anti-corruption efforts may be having an unintended effect. The survey, by Dow Jones, found that more than half of companies were delaying or abandoning key business initiatives as executives struggled to both interpret applicable anti-corruption regulations and collect the information they need to confidently assess corruption risk. 

New York District Court Judge Sandra Townes recently issued an interesting decision on an issue in an alleged “garden-variety kickback” scheme that caught our attention. According to the charging instruments, Ilya and Rachel Krikheli personally, or through intermediaries, arranged for patients to be referred to a radiological testing facility in exchange for payments to the referring doctors and the Krikhelis.

The 2009 Guidelines Manual from the U.S. Sentencing Commission, updated as of November 1, is now available online. It covers everything, but we recommend that anyone considering engaging in Financial Fraud carefully look at the section on “Basic Economic Offenses” – it deals with theft, embezzlement, receipt of stolen property, property destruction, and offenses “involving fraud or deceit” (beginning on page 80).

The New York Times is reporting today that, “Top executives at Blackwater Worldwide authorized secret payments of about $1 million to Iraqi officials that were intended to silence their criticism and buy their support after a September 2007 episode in which Blackwater security guards fatally shot 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad, according to former company officials.”