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Micronesian official pleads guilty to corruption-related money laundering conspiracy

Financial Crimes DOJ Anti-Money Laundering FCPA Of Interest to Non-US Persons

Financial Crimes

On April 3, the DOJ announced that a Micronesian government official pleaded guilty in the District of Hawaii to a money laundering conspiracy “involving bribes made to corruptly secure engineering and project management contracts from the government of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), in violation of the” FCPA. The official was arrested in February after a Hawaiian executive pleaded guilty to a related FCPA conspiracy charge the prior month (see previous FCPA Scorecard coverage here). 

According to the DOJ, the official "was a government official in the FSM Department of Transportation, Communications and Infrastructure who administered FSM’s aviation programs, including the management of its airports.” The official admitted that, between 2006 and 2016, a Hawaii-based engineering and consulting company “paid bribes to FSM officials, including [the official], to obtain and retain contracts with the FSM government valued at nearly $8 million.” The official’s sentencing is scheduled for July 29.