In Thailand,
Rolls-Royce admitted to using intermediaries to pay
approximately $11 million in bribes to officials at Thai
state-owned and state-controlled oil and gas companies
that awarded approximately seven contracts to
Rolls-Royce during the same time period.
In Brazil, Rolls-Royce
used intermediaries to pay approximately $9.3 million in
bribes to bribe foreign officials at a state-owned
petroleum corporation that awarded multiple contracts to
Rolls-Royce during the same time period.
In Kazakhstan, between
approximately 2009 and 2012, Rolls-Royce paid
commissions of approximately $5.4 million to multiple
advisors, knowing that at least a portion of the
commission payments would be used to bribe foreign
officials with influence over a joint venture owned and
controlled by the Kazakh and Chinese governments that
was developing a gas pipeline between the countries. In
2012, the company also hired a local Kazakh distributor,
knowing it was beneficially owned by a high-ranking
Kazakh government official with decision-making
authority over Rolls-Royce’s ability to continue
operating in the Kazakh market. During this time, the
state-owned joint venture awarded multiple contracts to
Rolls-Royce.
In Azerbaijan, between
approximately 2000 and 2009, Rolls-Royce used
intermediaries to pay approximately $7.8 million in
bribes to foreign officials at the state-owned and
state-controlled oil company, which awarded multiple
contracts to Rolls-Royce during the same time period.
In Angola, between
approximately 2008 and 2012, Rolls-Royce used an
intermediary to pay approximately $2.4 million in bribes
to officials at a state-owned and state-controlled oil
company, which awarded three contracts to Rolls-Royce
during this time period.
In Iraq, from
approximately 2006 to 2009, Rolls-Royce supplied
turbines to a state-owned and state-controlled oil
company. Certain Iraqi foreign officials expressed
concerns about the turbines and subsequently threatened
to blacklist Rolls-Royce from doing future business in
Iraq. In response, Rolls-Royce’s intermediary paid
bribes to Iraqi officials to persuade them to accept the
turbines and not blacklist the company.
Rolls-Royce entered
into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) in
connection with a criminal information, filed on Dec.
20, 2016, in the Southern District of Ohio and unsealed
today, charging the company with conspiring to violate
the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA. Pursuant to the
DPA, Rolls-Royce agreed to pay a criminal penalty of
$195,496,880, subject to a credit discussed below. The
company has also agreed to continue to cooperate fully
with the department’s ongoing investigation, including
its investigation of individuals.
In related
proceedings, Rolls-Royce also settled with the United
Kingdom’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and the Brazilian
Ministério Público Federal (MPF). As part of its
resolution with the SFO, Rolls-Royce entered into a DPA
and admitted to paying additional bribes or failing to
prevent bribery payments in connection with
Rolls-Royce’s business operations in China, India,
Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Russia and Thailand
between in or around 1989 and in or around 2013, and
Rolls-Royce agreed to pay a total fine of £497,252,645
($604,808,392).
As part of its
leniency agreement with the MPF, Rolls-Royce also agreed
to pay a penalty of approximately $25,579,170 for the
company’s role in a conspiracy to bribe foreign
officials in Brazil between 2005 and 2008. Because the
conduct underlying the MPF resolution overlaps with the
conduct underlying part of the department’s resolution,
the department credited the $25,579,170 that Rolls-Royce
agreed to pay in Brazil against the total fine in the
United States. Therefore, the total amount to be paid to
the United States is $169,917,710, and the total amount
of penalties that Rolls-Royce has agreed to pay is more
than $800 million.
|