Case collapse hits efforts to curb bribery

Editor’s Note: Joseph Warin is partner and chair of the litigation department at the Washington D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. This post is based on a Gibson Dunn client alert by Seema Gupta and Avi Weitzman. In the past two weeks, Judges Richard J. Sullivan and Shira A.

Brookfield Asset Management has denied allegations filed in a civil case in Brazil that some officers of a subsidiary paid bribes to São Paulo city officials to obtain permits for renovations to shopping malls. Toronto-based Brookfield said in a statement Tuesday that the allegations, which were made by a former employee of the property management company who was terminated with cause in 2010, are “strongly denied by the individuals accused of wrongdoing.”

CALGARY — Griffiths Energy International is eager to focus on drilling for oil Chad once again after a judge approved a $10.35-million fine for bribing the wife of a diplomat from the impoverished African country. “We’re glad to have this behind us and we’re ready to move on with what we do best — oil and gas exploration and production,” Griffiths CEO Gary Guidry told reporters Friday. The privately held company, co-founded by the late businessman Brad Griffiths, pled guilty earlier this week to a charge under the Corruption of Public Foreign Officials Act.

CALGARY — Griffiths Energy has agreed to pay a $10.35-million fine after pleading guilty to a bribery charge for payments made to officials in Chad. The Calgary-based company disclosed last week that it had been charged under a Canadian law called the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act. The company admits it paid $2-million to officials in Chad to get an advantage in two exploration blocks in the oil-rich African country.

NCR shares are trading sharply lower Tuesday amid allegations that the provider of ATMs and point-of-sale terminals may be in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the U.S. law against bribing foreign officials. "NCR has received anonymous allegations from a purported whistleblower regarding certain aspects of the company's business practices [...]

The Macau unit of casino giant Las Vegas Sands has come under a US criminal investigation after its sacked head alleged he was told to spy on government officials in the Asian gambling hub.Sands confirmed Wednesday it had received a subpoena from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for documents relating to compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.The law, which prohibits US companies from bribing foreign officials, carries a penalty of as much as five years in prison.

US justice officials hit security equipment producer Armor Holdings with $16 million in fines Wednesday for bribing UN officials to buy their body armor for UN troops.Resolving charges based on the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Armor, a subsidiary of British defense giant BAE Systems, agreed to pay the Justice Department $10.3 million in the case, and another $5.7 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission.