USA Law and Practice Contributed by: Eric Bruce and Justin Simeone, Freshfields US LLP
7.5 Recent Landmark Investigations or Decisions Landmark Investigations and Decisions Snyder v United States In June 2024, the US Supreme Court ruled that the federal statute aimed at bribery of US offi - cials, 18 U.S.C. Section 666, does not include gratuities and is instead limited to circumstances in which a thing of value is given or received pur - suant to a quid pro quo agreement. The Court reversed the bribery conviction of a former Indi - ana mayor. The decision narrows the application of the statute by allowing criminal charges for gratuities provided before an official act, but not after an official act. Gunvor S.A. In March 2024, Gunvor S.A. pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the FCPA for the approxi - mately USD97 million in bribes it paid while doing business with Ecuador’s state-owned oil company. Gunvor paid over USD661 million in penalties. In the plea agreement, the DOJ con - sidered Gunvor’s prior history of corruption and how the key personnel used encrypted means of communication to avoid detection. SAP SE In January 2024, SAP SE reached agreements with the DOJ, SEC, and South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority for violating the FCPA’s anti-bribery provision and the books and records provision in relation to SAP’s scheme to brine South African and Indonesian officials between 2013 and 2018. SAP agreed to pay over USD220 million to resolves matters with the DOJ and SEC. As part of the US resolution, SAP agreed to a three-year compliance monitor in connec - tion with the FCPA resolution.
Domestic Corruption Statutes There have also been high-profile developments involving domestic corruption statutes in recent years, including: • a September 2024 federal indictment of New York City Mayor Eric Adams for alleg - edly accepting bribes (eg, luxury travel) in exchange for using his political positions to benefit foreign nationals, businessmen, and others; • an August 2024 federal indictment of Wash - ington, DC Council-member Trayon White for allegedly accepting bribes (eg, cash payments) in exchange for using his politi - cal position to benefit multiple government contractors; and • a July 2024 federal conviction of US Sena - tor Robert Menendez for allegedly accepting bribes, including cash and gifts, in exchange for using his political influence to benefit the government of Egypt in violation of US brib - ery, fraud, extortion, and foreign agent laws. Enforcement Trends The 2023 annual report of the DOJ’s Fraud Sec - tion states that the FCPA Unit charged 15 indi - viduals in 2023, seven of whom were convicted by guilty plea or after trial; in the same year, the FCPA Unit at the Fraud Section reached six cor - porate resolutions involving the imposition of USD657.3 million in global fines, penalties and forfeiture. 7.6 Level of Sanctions Imposed FCPA resolutions have included some of the big - gest monetary penalties in US criminal or regula - tory history. Many penalties have reached into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Individuals, too, can pay a substantial monetary fine or serve prison sentences for bribery or cor -
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