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Former SAP Executive Sentenced for Conspiracy to Bribe Panamanian Government Officials
On December 16, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California sentenced a former regional director of SAP International Inc. for his involvement in a conspiracy to bribe Panamanian government officials to obtain technology contracts. U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer sentenced Vicente Eduardo Garcia to 22 months in prison for his role in the bribery scheme. In August 2015, Garcia pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the FCPA, admitting that in 2009 he and others conspired to bribe two Panamanian government officials directly and a third official through an agent in order to obtain a contract to provide a Panamanian state agency with a technology upgrade package. Garcia and his co-conspirators used sham contracts and false invoices to conceal the bribes, and Garcia personally received over $85,000 for arranging the bribes. Garcia previously settled with the SEC and agreed to pay disgorgement of $85,965 plus prejudgment interest.
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.