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Foreign Corrupt Practices Act & Anti-Corruption

Real estate broker and nephew of former UN Secretary-General pleads guilty to FCPA charges

DOJ FCPA Bribery Qatari Vietnam

On January 5, 2018, the Department of Justice announced that Joo Hyun Bahn, also known as Dennis Bahn, pleaded guilty to charges that he tried to bribe a Qatari official in connection with a sale of a high rise building complex in Vietnam. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and one count of violating the FCPA before U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos of the Southern District of New York. Mr. Bahn was charged with his father Ban Ki Sang, who was an executive at the South Korean construction company Keangnam, and Malcolm Harris, an arts and fashion blogger, in December 2016. Mr. Bahn is the nephew of former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

In his guilty plea, Mr. Bahn admitted to joining a conspiracy to make $2.5 million in bribe payments to a Qatari official between February 2014 and May 2015 in an effort to sell the Keangnam-owned Hanoi Landmark Tower and residential buildings in Vietnam, which were worth $800 million. Mr. Bahn admitted that he and Mr. Ban agreed to pay $500,000 to a Qatari official to persuade the official to use the Qatari sovereign wealth fund to purchase the building. The $500,000 was then transferred to Mr. Harris, who posed as an agent for the foreign official, but instead of passing the payment to the foreign official, Mr. Harris double-crossed his codefendants and stole the $500,000. 

Although the scheme involved a South Korean construction company and a Qatari foreign official, the Indictment alleged that Mr. Bahn qualified as a “domestic concern” pursuant to 15 USC 78dd-2(h)(1) because he was a lawful permanent resident of the United States and resided in New Jersey at the time. 

Mr. Bahn faces up to five years in prison on each count. Mr. Harris previously pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud and money laundering for his role in the scheme, and was sentenced to 42 months in prison. Mr. Ban has been charged, but not yet arrested.