French Firm to Pay Record $772 Million Penalty for Foreign Bribery Scheme
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
PRESS RELEASE DECEMBER 22, 2014
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| Flanked by Department of Justice officials, FBI Executive Assistant Director Robert Anderson, Jr. speaks about the investigation of the French power and transportation company Alstom S.A. |
In what is being called the largest-ever foreign bribery resolution with the Department of Justice, a French power and transportation company today pleaded guilty to violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and agreed to pay a record $772 million fine.
The company, Alstom S.A., engaged in a worldwide bribery scheme for more than a decade that involved tens of millions of dollars in payouts. A significant part of the scheme was carried out from the company’s offices in Windsor, Connecticut. Alstom pled guilty to a two-count criminal information, acknowledging that its executives had falsified books and records and failed to implement adequate internal controls.
“This investigation spanned years and crossed continents, as agents from the FBI Washington and New Haven Field Offices conducted interviews and collected evidence in every corner of the globe,” said FBI Executive Assistant Director Robert Anderson, Jr.