Bahrain’s state-owned aluminum producer asked a court to let it proceed with racketeering claims that it overpaid for raw materials because of bribes directed by Alcoa Inc. (AA), the largest U.S. aluminum producer.
Aluminium Bahrain BSC, known as Alba, claims that New York- based Alcoa bribed senior officials in Bahrain and caused Alba to pay almost $500 million more than it should have for alumina, the principal raw material in aluminum. Alcoa has asked a judge to dismiss the case, arguing that the alleged conduct took place outside the U.S. and shouldn’t be litigated in federal court.
Alba countered that Alcoa and other defendants used offshore shell companies to “perpetrate and conceal a massive, home-cooked bribery scheme conceived, orchestrated, and directed in and from the United States,” according to its filing yesterday in federal court in Pittsburgh.
Claims of domestic leadership of the fraudulent scheme are “amply supported by Alba’s detailed, specific, and documented allegations of actions in furtherance of the scheme by senior domestic executives,” according to the filing.
Social Justice: Current Affairs, Business, Politics, and all the reasons in the world to Thrive on Creative Discontent!
Showing posts with label bribery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bribery. Show all posts
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
US Supreme Court rules in favor of Bribery & Corruption ...Equal Justice Under Law ... unless your rich then we'll write the laws that favor you
The Montana Supreme Court, voting 5-2, said Citizens United didn’t apply to the state in part because of bribery and other types of corruption that infused politics there before the law was enacted in 1912.
At the time the law was enacted, “the state of Montana and its government were operating under a mere shell of legal authority, and the real social and political power was wielded by powerful corporate managers to further their own business interests,” the Montana court majority said.
Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock, a Democrat, defended the law, saying it “has safeguarded the republican form of government in Montana for a century from the scourge of political corruption.”
The high court yesterday put the Montana law on hold until it announces whether it will review the measure, which is being challenged by two nonprofit corporations and a family-owned business.
The case would test the 2010 ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. That decision, which divided the court 5-4 along ideological lines, allowed corporate spending as long as companies don’t directly coordinate with candidates.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
UAE: FCPA violation Dolphin Energy
In the case of Control Components executives Mario Covino and Richard Morlok, both pled guilty in connection with making corrupt payments to officials at various state-owned enterprises, including the Dolphin Energy company in the United Arab Emirates and Safco in Saudi Arabia.
As with other cases, Covino and Morlok made payments to government officials, disguised as “commissions.” The payments were primarily made to individuals at the state-owned companies who had the power to direct business.
Of note, both individuals were alleged to have made specific false or misleading statements or undertook other actions to impede investigation into the alleged improper activity.
For instance, Morlok admitted to providing “false and misleading information to [the company’s] external auditors regarding his knowledge of and participation in improper payments” made to foreign officials.
Covino also admitted to having deleted emails and instructing others to delete emails that referred to the corrupt payments, for the purpose of obstructing the internal audit into the commission payments.
Underscoring the seriousness of FCPA penalties for individuals, both Covino and Morlok face up to five years in prison for these violations.
As with other cases, Covino and Morlok made payments to government officials, disguised as “commissions.” The payments were primarily made to individuals at the state-owned companies who had the power to direct business.
Of note, both individuals were alleged to have made specific false or misleading statements or undertook other actions to impede investigation into the alleged improper activity.
For instance, Morlok admitted to providing “false and misleading information to [the company’s] external auditors regarding his knowledge of and participation in improper payments” made to foreign officials.
Covino also admitted to having deleted emails and instructing others to delete emails that referred to the corrupt payments, for the purpose of obstructing the internal audit into the commission payments.
Underscoring the seriousness of FCPA penalties for individuals, both Covino and Morlok face up to five years in prison for these violations.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Guess who's listening? (But not to your laws...)
The Emirati Telecommunication firm Etisalat is facing a major legal claim by Majestic Infracon Private, the Emerati telecom firms’ partner in Etislat DB, a joint venture into the Indian mobile market.
The firm could be facing $1.6 billion in fines for foreign exchange violations.
Two directors at Etislat DB, Shadhid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka, filed the claim.
The Indian press reported that the allegations include that Etisalat didn’t fulfill management obligations. Etisalat has a 44.73 percent share in Etisalat DB.
Balwa and Goenka are both in jail after corruption charges related to bribing officials to obtain licensing for mobile phone networks.
The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). also expressed concerns about the telecom surveillance software Etisalat had used in a Blackberry service it had introduced in the UAE and recommended that the company should not be allowed to offer Blackberry services in India.
India’s Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has rejected Etisalat investment proposals on grounds of possibility of “round tripping”. Round tripping refers to routing of investments by a resident of one country through another country back to its own country to evade taxes.
------------IN NIGERIA
Etisalat, one of Nigeria’s Cellular phone service providers has been slammed with a N10 Million law suit for illegally swapping a subscriber’s active number without his consent.
Taiwo Egbon, an Etisalat subscriber claim that he woke up one morning and discovered his Etisalat line which he uses in communicating with family members who frequently sends him money from overseas had been cloned.
The firm could be facing $1.6 billion in fines for foreign exchange violations.
Two directors at Etislat DB, Shadhid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka, filed the claim.
The Indian press reported that the allegations include that Etisalat didn’t fulfill management obligations. Etisalat has a 44.73 percent share in Etisalat DB.
Balwa and Goenka are both in jail after corruption charges related to bribing officials to obtain licensing for mobile phone networks.
The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). also expressed concerns about the telecom surveillance software Etisalat had used in a Blackberry service it had introduced in the UAE and recommended that the company should not be allowed to offer Blackberry services in India.
India’s Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has rejected Etisalat investment proposals on grounds of possibility of “round tripping”. Round tripping refers to routing of investments by a resident of one country through another country back to its own country to evade taxes.
------------IN NIGERIA
Etisalat, one of Nigeria’s Cellular phone service providers has been slammed with a N10 Million law suit for illegally swapping a subscriber’s active number without his consent.
Taiwo Egbon, an Etisalat subscriber claim that he woke up one morning and discovered his Etisalat line which he uses in communicating with family members who frequently sends him money from overseas had been cloned.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)