Business
The Justice Department continues to produce FCPA resolutions in a record year for enforcement. The latest is DOJ’s settlement with Vitol, Inc. (Vitol), an energy trading company. DOJ agreed to a three-year deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) in exchange for a criminal penalty of $135 million. One-third of the payment, or $45 million, would be credited if Vitol pays $45 million to Brazil prosecutors for resolution of the case. Vitol also agreed to a civil settlement with the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for $28.7 million, $12.7 million of which was for disgorgement. The Vitol case represented the first coordinated FCPA enforcement action between DOJ and the CFTC. Vitol’s DOJ and Brazil settlements stem from Vitol bribery schemes in Brazil, Ecuador and Mexico. Over a fifteen year period, Vitol paid millions of dollars in bribes to numerous public officials in Brazil, Ecuador and Mexico. In this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews Vitol's FCPA settlement and the bribery schemes.