Round Up: ABB settles bribery charges in three different countries
US: Department of Justice (DOJ): ABB Agrees to Pay Over $315 Million to Resolve Coordinated Global Foreign Bribery Case
ABB Ltd. (ABB), a Swiss-based global technology company listed on the New York Stock Exchange with core businesses focused on electrification, automation, motion, and robotics has agreed to pay more than $315 million to resolve an investigation into violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) stemming from the bribery of a high-ranking official at South Africa’s state-owned energy company…
According to court documents and statements made in court, ABB entered into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the department in connection with the filing of a criminal information in the Eastern District of Virginia charging the company with conspiracy to violate the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions, conspiracy to violate the FCPA’s books and records provisions, and substantive violations of the FCPA. In addition, ABB subsidiaries ABB Management Services Ltd. (Switzerland) and ABB South Africa (Pty) Ltd. (South Africa) each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA… Read the full press release here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/abb-agrees-pay-over-315-million-resolve-coordinated-global-foreign-bribery-case
US: Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC): ABB Settles SEC Charges that it Engaged in Bribery Scheme in South Africa
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against global electrification and automation technology company, ABB Ltd, for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) arising out of a bribery scheme in South Africa. The company has agreed to pay a $75 million civil penalty to settle the SEC’s charges.
The SEC’s order finds that, from 2015 through 2017, ABB executives in Switzerland and South Africa colluded with a high-ranking government official at Eskom, an electricity provider owned by the South African government, to funnel bribes to the official through complicit third-party service providers with whom the government official had close personal relationships. ABB paid the service providers more than $37 million to bribe the government official. In return ABB obtained a $160 million contract to provide cabling and installation work at Eskom’s Kusile Power Station… Read the full press release here: https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2022-214
Switzerland: The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland resolves criminal investigation against ABB
The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) resolves the criminal investigation against ABB. Namely, it issues a penalty order for an offense against the Art. 102 Par. 2 Swiss Criminal Code (SCC) in connection with Art. 322septies SCC and sentences the company to a fine of 4 million Swiss francs…
ABB Management Services Ltd with headquarters in Switzerland acknowledges in the penalty order not having taken all necessary and reasonable organizational provisions in order to prevent bribery payments to foreign officials in South Africa. In concrete terms, various ABB employees set up from 2013 on a bribery scheme in order to obtain orders, through excessive payments to subcontractors, for the construction of a coal-fired power plant in South Africa. In this way, ABB South Africa received orders for a value of at least 200 million dollars with bribery payments of at least 1.3 million Swiss francs… Read the full press release here: https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start/documentation/media-releases.msg-id-92020.html
South Africa: A Step Towards Accountability For State Capture Corruption At Eskom: Abb To Pay Over R2.5 Billion In Punitive Reparations To South Africa
As part of its ongoing criminal investigation into complex corruption at Eskom, the NPA’s Investigating Directorate (ID) has finalised a comprehensive settlement agreement with ABB to pay over R2,5 billion in punitive reparations to South Africa. This settlement represents a bold and innovative step towards accountability and justice for alleged offenders, particularly in the form of restitution for the serious crimes committed at Eskom during the state capture period…
ABB Ltd, an international company with a large South African footprint, was implicated in state capture era corruption. ABB has acknowledged liability and taken responsibility for the alleged criminal conduct of its employees involving contracts with Eskom. As a result, ABB has been forthcoming in cooperating with law enforcement agencies conducting the investigations into such alleged conduct. It has assisted the NPA’s ID to secure evidence and key witnesses which have formed an essential part of the NPA’s ongoing investigations into the company’s alleged offences. It will continue to do so as part of the agreement… Read the full press release here: https://www.npa.gov.za/media/step-towards-accountability-state-capture-corruption-eskom-abb-pay-over-r25-billion-punitive
