FCPA Scorecard Blog
Former SAP Executive Pleads Guilty to Paying "Necessary" Bribes
On August 12, the DOJ and SEC announced joint enforcement actions against software giant SAP International's former head of Latin American sales, Vicente Garcia. Garcia pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the FCPA and will be sentenced on December 16, 2015 in the Northern District of California. The DOJ alleges that SAP paid bribes to Panamanian officials to secure software license sales in late 2009, using sham contracts and fake invoices. Garcia "admitted that he believed paying such bribes was necessary" to secure the contracts.
The SEC simultaneously issued an administrative cease and desist order against Garcia describing a scheme by which Garcia, in violation of SAP's internal controls, gave discounts to a local business partner to generate excess earnings, which were used to create the slush fund used to pay at least $145,000 in bribes to secure approximately $3.7 million in sales. Garcia and others also arranged to receive kickbacks from the sales. Garcia agreed to pay disgorgement of the kickbacks he received plus prejudgment interest, totaling $92,395.