On 2 July 2021 the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) announced that it had entered into a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with Amec Foster Wheeler Limited (AFWL) relating to corrupt agents in the oil and gas section.
SFO Investigation | Rosenblatt’s Financial Crime Team
The DPA was approved on 1 July by Lord Justice Edis sitting at the Royal Courts of Justice.
Under the terms of the DPA, AFWL are required to pay a financial penalty and costs totalling £103m in the UK which forms part of the larger global settlement with the UK, US and Brazilian authorities in the sum of USD $177m. The amount AWFL are due to pay includes the SFO’s costs of £3.4m and a £210,610 payment of compensation to the people of Nigeria.
As part of the DPA AWFL have taken responsibility for ten offences of corruption relating to the use of corrupt agents in the oil and gas sector by the legacy Foster Wheeler business. These offences took place across the world, in Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, India and Brazil between 1996 – 2014.
The Director of the SFO, Lisa Osofsky stated, “over a period of 18 years, Foster Wheeler Energy Limited brazenly and calculatedly paid bribes to officials around the world to cut corners and secure contracts, going to great lengths to conceal its corrupt conduct. In doing so, the company subverted the rule of law and harmed the integrity of the economy in the United Kingdom. We will continue to deliver justice for the taxpayer by punishing such actions and forcing companies to change for the better.”
The DPA is accompanied by an undertaking from AWFL’s parent company, John Wood Group Plc (JWG) whereby they assume responsibility for the payment of the financial penalty, the SFO’s costs and agree to on-going co-operation with the SFO and other regulatory authorities. JWG must also report to the SFO annually on its group-wide ethic and compliance programme.
JWG purchased Amec Foster Wheeler PLC, including its subsidiary AWFL in October 2017. JWG was not involved in the indicted conduct and the SFO have confirmed that the company has fully co-operated with their investigation.
The DPA brings the SFO’s nearly four-year investigation into suspected bribery and corruption within the Foster Wheeler and Amec Foster Wheeler businesses to an end. However, the DPA only relates to the criminal liability of AWFL and does not address the liability of any other person, including any employee, agent, former employee or agent of AWFL. It is noted that the SFO’s investigation into the conduct of individual suspects continues.
Rosenblatt can help
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