Round Up: Honeywell to pay over $160m to resolve foreign bribery investigations in U.S. (with DOJ and SEC) and Brazil
US Department of Justice (DOJ): Honeywell UOP to pay over $160M to resolve foreign bribery investigations in U.S. and Brazil
UOP LLC, dba as Honeywell UOP, a U.S.-based subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., has agreed to pay more than $160 million to resolve parallel bribery investigations by criminal and civil authorities in the United States and Brazil stemming from bribe payments offered to a high-ranking official at Brazil’s state-owned oil company.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s resolution is coordinated with prosecutorial authorities in Brazil as well as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
According to court documents, Honeywell UOP entered into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the department in connection with a criminal information filed in the Southern District of Texas charging the company with conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
According to the company’s admissions and court documents, between 2010 and 2014, Honeywell UOP conspired to offer an approximately $4 million bribe to a then-high-ranking executive of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A (Petrobras) in Brazil. Specifically, Honeywell UOP offered the bribe to secure improper advantages in order to obtain and retain business from Petrobras in connection with Honeywell UOP’s efforts to win an approximately $425 million contract from Petrobras to design and build an oil refinery called Premium… Read the full press release here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdtx/pr/honeywell-uop-pay-over-160m-resolve-foreign-bribery-investigations-us-and-brazil
US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC): SEC Charges Honeywell with Bribery Schemes in Algeria and Brazil
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against Honeywell International Inc. for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) arising out of bribery schemes that took place in Brazil and Algeria. The company has agreed to pay more than $81 million to settle the SEC’s charges.
The SEC’s order finds that Honeywell, a U.S.-based global manufacturer of aerospace, building technologies, and automation products, engaged in a bribery scheme involving intermediaries and employees of its U.S. subsidiary to obtain business from the Brazil state-owned entity Petrobras. Specifically, the order finds that, in 2010, Honeywell offered at least $4 million in bribes to a high-ranking Brazilian government official in connection with the bidding process at Petrobras. The SEC’s order also finds that, in 2011, employees and agents of Honeywell’s Belgian subsidiary paid more than $75,000 in bribes to an Algerian government official to obtain and retain business with the Algerian state-owned entity Sonatrach… Read the full press release here: https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2022-230
Read the SEC Order here: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2022/34-96529.pdf
