Marubeni to Pay Fine Over Foreign-Bribery Charges

Japanese trading company Marubeni Corp. agreed to pay an $88 million fine and pleaded guilty to foreign-bribery charges in the company's second foreign-bribery payout in three years, the U.S. Justice Department said Wednesday.

The Tokyo-based company's plea to an eight-count criminal-information document relates to a scheme to pay bribes to high-ranking Indonesian officials to secure a $118 million contract for a power project as a part of a consortium with Alstom SA. The document charged Marubeni with one count of conspiracy and seven counts of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bars bribery of foreign officials for business purposes.

The consortium was awarded the contract for the power project in 2004, Marubeni said in a statement.

"The company refused to play by the rules, then refused to cooperate with the government's investigation. Now, Marubeni faces the consequences for its crooked business practices in Indonesia," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman in a statement.

Prosecutors said the plea agreement notes Marubeni's lack of cooperation in the government's probe. The plea comes just over two years after Marubeni agreed to pay $54.6 million to resolve charges related to its role in a decadelong scheme to bribe Nigerian government officials for contracts. It settled that case without admitting guilt.

Though U.S. authorities ramped up FCPA enforcement in recent years, it is still rare for a company to have multiple foreign-bribery payouts.

Marubeni noted the terms of the Nigerian settlement were completed earlier this year and said it has taken "extensive efforts to enhance its anti-corruption compliance program, and believes that its current program is robust and effective."

"Although the agreement reached with the [Justice Department] today does not require Marubeni to further engage a compliance consultant, Marubeni is taking this matter seriously and commits to thoroughly implement and enhance its anti-corruption compliance program," it said in the statement.

The Indonesia scheme was conducted as a part of a consortium with a company the Justice Department declined to name.

However, in a statement, prosecutors named several individuals charged or convicted as part of the Indonesian scheme, all of whom were former employees of Alstom. Among them was former executive Frederic Pierucci, who pleaded guilty last year to one count of conspiring to violate the FCPA and one count of violating the FCPA, and David Rothschild, a former vice president of sales at Alstom who pleaded guilty in November 2012 to one count of conspiracy.

"Alstom has been working constructively with the Department of Justice for the last three years to address any allegations of past misconduct. In the meantime, the company is committed to assuring that it conducts its worldwide business with integrity and fully in compliance with all laws and regulations," the company said in a statement.

Samuel Rubenfeld contributed to this article.

Write to Rachel Louise Ensign at [e-mail]

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