Mishcon's Culture vs Corruption Diary - January 2012
Welcome to the January edition of Mishcon's Culture vs Corruption Diary. Its aim is to provide businesses and their advisors with a snapshot of what has been happening in the world of corruption in the last month.
We make no judgment whatsoever as to the morality, legality or appropriateness of the conduct which forms the subject matter of this bulletin. We simply aim to bring these matters to the attention of those involved in the prevention, detection and investigation of fraud.
UNITED KINGDOM
Consultancy
Former management consultant Rupinder Sidhu has been jailed for two years after being found guilty of 22 counts of insider dealing which he committed with Anjam Ahmad, an ex-hedge fund trader and risk manager with AKO Capital.
Jonathan Russell
Daily Telegraph, 16 December 2011
Companies
British companies convicted of bribery could become eligible to secure public contracts across Europe under wide-ranging reforms to EU procurement rules proposed by the European Commission.
Richard Tyler
Daily Telegraph, 21 December 2011
United States of America
Telecommunications
Magyar Telekom, a Hungarian telecommunications company, was charged with bribing government and political party officials in Macedonia and Montenegro under the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The company paid $95 million to settle civil charges.
U.S. Department of Justice press release, 29 December 2011
Energy
Ousama Naaman, an agent of Innospec Inc. (a British chemical company), was sentenced to 30 months in prison and has to pay a $250,000 fine for paying kickbacks to the Iraqi government in exchange for contracts under the United Nations Oil for Food Program and for paying $167,000 in bribes to members of the Iraqi Ministry of Oil.
The Blog of Legal Times, 22 December 2011
Companies
Diageo, a global producer of alcoholic beverages, was charged under the FCPA with making $2.7 million in improper payments to officials in three different countries. The company paid more than $16 million to settle the charges
U.S. SEC press release, 27 July 2011
INTERNATIONAL
Reports and Surveys
Bangladesh is among the most corrupt countries in the world according to a survey by Transparency International which found that 66 per cent of Bangladeshis said that they were forced to pay bribes to public institutions.
The Times, 23 December 2011
WESTERN EUROPE
Government
Iñaki Urdangarin, the Duke of Palma and son-in-law of Spain's King Juan Carlos, has been charged with misuse of public funds in a corruption case. He has denied the allegations.
Victor Mallet
Financial Times, 30 December 2011
France's former president Jacques Chirac has been given a two-year suspended sentence for political corruption having been found guilty of breach of trust and misuse of public funds whilst Mayor of Paris in the 1990s.
Jennifer Thompson
Financial Times, 16 December 2011
ASIA
Government
India’s parliament has failed to pass new anti-corruption legislation despite a pledge to deliver legislation by the end of 2011 to citizens outraged by high-profile corruption scandals.
James Lamont
Financial Times, 31 December 2011
Mishcon de Reya
Mishcon's Culture vs Corruption Diary is published by the Dispute Resolution Department of Mishcon de Reya. Widely recognised as the leader in the field of fraud investigations, the Department has extensive experience in conducting and/or project managing highly sensitive international investigations in respect of bribery and corruption allegations. The Department founded and runs both the Fraud Network, made up of international legal fraud specialists, and the Financial Risk Group, for risk and compliance officers.