Four Sentenced in United Kingdom for Role in Innospec Matter

Indonesia UK SFO Innospec Iraq

On August 4, 2014, the United Kingdom’s Serious Fraud Office announced that four former executives of Innospec Inc. (formerly known as Associated Octel Corp.) were sentenced following a long-running investigation related to conduct in in Indonesia and Iraq.  Three of the four were sentenced to prison terms, with a former chief executive receiving four years in prison after being convicted at a jury trial earlier this year.  A former regional sales director received an 18 month sentence following a conviction at trial, and another former CEO was sentenced to two years following a guilty plea.  The fourth individual, a former business unit director, received a suspended 16-month sentence following a guilty plea. The sentencing of these former executives comes after Innospec pled guilty in 2010 to FCPA and anti-bribery criminal charges brought by DOJ and the UK’s Serious Fraud Office, and after Innospec settled civil charges brought by the SEC.  The charges alleged that Innospec, a global specialty chemicals company, had bribed Indonesian and Iraqi government officials to win sales of a gasoline additive after environmental legislation in the US and abroad led to a decline in sales of that additive.  As part of the settlement, Innospec paid U.S. authorities $27.5 million, and paid UK authorities $12.7 million.  Two of the four individuals sentenced in the UK had also previously settled with the SEC over civil FCPA charges.