DOJ Charges Five Individuals With FCPA Violations Involving Rolls-Royce

DOJ FCPA Enforcement Action Rolls Royce UK Serious Fraud Office

On November 7, the DOJ unsealed FCPA charges against five individuals for their alleged participation in a foreign bribery scheme involving Rolls-Royce plc and its U.S. subsidiary (Rolls-Royce). Of the five individuals, one was indicted while the remaining four pleaded guilty for their roles in an alleged scheme to pay bribes to a Kazakhstan official in order to secure a supply contract for a gas pipeline from Kazakhstan to China.  The charges and guilty pleas were unsealed in Ohio federal district court. 

These charges follow on the heels of the company’s January 2017 settlement with DOJ in which Rolls-Royce agreed to a three-year deferred prosecution agreement and agreed to pay $170 million to resolve charges that it conspired to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA around the world. As part of the DOJ settlement, Rolls-Royce agreed to continue to cooperate fully with the DOJ’s investigation, including its investigation of individuals. The DOJ settlement comprised just a fraction of the $800 million total penalty Rolls-Royce agreed to pay as part of a global resolution related to the corrupt conduct.  

Of the four guilty pleas, three individuals (a former executive of Rolls-Royce, a former employee of Rolls-Royce, and an executive at an international engineering consulting firm) pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA. The fourth individual (a former senior executive of Rolls-Royce) also pleaded guilty to one count of violating the FCPA in addition to conspiracy. The indicted individual, a former CEO of a Rolls-Royce intermediary, was charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and seven counts of violating the FCPA, along with various money laundering charges. 

The DOJ’s announcement noted the “significant cooperation and assistance” from the UK SFO and Brazil law enforcement.  This continues the increased trend of DOJ receiving and then highlighting cooperation efforts by its international counterparts.