InfoBytes Blog
DOJ Reduces Brazilian Construction Company Penalty Based on Inability to Pay
On April 11, the DOJ filed a memorandum in its case against a Brazilian construction company, requesting that the Court approve a lower sentence than originally proposed based on the company's inability to pay. On December 21, the company and its petrochemical affiliate reached a $4.5 billion combined global settlement with U.S., Brazilian, and Swiss authorities to resolve FCPA allegations, in which both companies agreed to plead guilty in the U.S. to conspiracy to violate the FCPA. As part of that agreement, the U.S. and Brazilian authorities agreed to conduct an independent analysis to confirm the accuracy of the construction company's representation that it had an inability to pay a penalty in excess of $2.6 billion. The memorandum set forth the DOJ’s determination that the construction company lacks the ability to pay a criminal penalty in excess of $2.6 billion and included adjustments for the requested penalty to match that ability. In particular, the portion of the penalty paid to the United States would be lowered from approximately $117 million to approximately $93 million. The sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 17.
Prior Scorecard coverage of the company's settlement can be found here.