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General Counsel as Hero in FCPA Case

By Eric Lipman

Jay Dalton, former general counsel of oil and gas contractor Wilbros Group, was recognized by the SEC as a key figure in the events that led up to the sentencing late last month of two former Wilbros executives to prison time for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. No, the good kind of key figure. According to this article by Amy Miller in Corporate Counsel, Dalton became suspicious of certain payments being made to an alleged consultant in connection with bids for a $400 million Nigerian pipeline project. He ordered that no further payments be made to this "consultant" and, when a questionable consulting contract was entered into with a new entity, he prohibited payments under that contract and started a thorough FCPA review, which exposed the scheme to bribe Nigerian officials. Good on you, Jay Dalton! Whether Hollywood would be as interested in a story about a do-gooder GC as they apparently were in one focused on a GC prone to profusely sweating in public restrooms remains to be seen. But it's got to be nice to have the SEC pat you on the back while they're tossing your former colleagues in jail. For those of you interested...

Full post as published by Legal Blog Watch on February 12, 2010 (boomark / email).