FCPA Scorecard Blog
Former CEO of Siemens-Argentina Pleads Guilty to FCPA Offenses
On September 30, the former CFO of Siemens S.A.-Argentina pleaded guilty in a federal court in New York to conspiring to pay nearly $100 million dollars in bribes to Argentinian officials. The former executive, Andres Truppel, who is a German and Argentinian citizen, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the antibribery, internal controls, and books and records provisions of the FCPA, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. As described in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York's press release, the violations stemmed from Siemens bid to win an Argentine government contract worth $1 billion to create a national identity card system. Mr. Truppel faces up to five years in prison and three years of supervised release when he is sentenced; there is no information on when sentencing will occur. Truppel was one of eight former Siemens executives indicted in 2011 on charges of conspiring to violate the FCPA and other statutes (see previous FCPA Scorecard coverage here and here). Siemens itself reached a record $800 million resolution in 2008 with the DOJ and SEC related to FCPA violations in numerous countries, including Argentina. Siemens S.A.-Argentina pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the FCPA's books and records provisions as part of that resolution.