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French Alcatel Executive Bribes Costa Rican Government, Then Nailed For FCPA Violations In U.S.

By Ethisphere.com

Just in case you forgot that the U.S. government applies the FCPA to foreign companies that operate within the United States, here is a reminder.

Christian Sapsizian, a French citizen and former executive of Alcatel, was sentenced to three years in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $261,500 after admitting that he paid over $2.5 million in bribes to officials in Costa Rica between February 2000 and September 2004.

The money was given to an official of the state run telecommunications authority in Costa Rica, who then shared the money with a “senior government official.” Those two then used their influence to allegedly create a favorable bidding process for Alcatel. During the period that the bribery took place, Alcatel was awarded a $149 million mobile telephone contract by the Costa Rican government.

Full post as published by Ethisphere Blog - Good. Smart. Business. Profit. on September 24, 2008 (boomark / email).