Corsa Coal's FCPA case will not be prosecuted by the DOJ

Since introducing new guidelines on the benefits of voluntary self-disclosure to the agency, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has released its first rejection of a company's alleged FCPA violation.

On March 8, Corsa Coal Corp.'s legal representatives received notice that the coal mining business will not be prosecuted for allegedly paying bribes to Egypt's Al Nasr Company for Coke and Chemicals in order to secure coal supply contracts. According to the DOJ, Corsa paid an Egyptian third party $4.8 million with knowledge from its employees that the money would be used to bribe members of the Egyptian government, including the chairman of Al Nasr.

The DOJ claims that the fraud operated between 2016 and 2020 and brought Corsa earnings of around $32.7 million.

The DOJ's March 2022 arrest of a former vice president at an unnamed coal business in Pennsylvania for violating the FCPA by bribing Egyptian government officials to secure Al Nasr contracts matches the circumstances of the alleged misbehavior. That case is still pending.

Corsa's "full and proactive" cooperation in the matter, according to the DOJ, made it deserving of declination. The business upgraded its compliance procedures and internal controls, terminated a sales representative determined to have been involved, and voluntarily self-disclosed the suspected misbehavior to the government. It also agreed to forfeit $1.2 million in ill-gotten proceeds.

An independent forensic accounting expert hired by the government determined that anything more than the $1.2 million total would "substantially threaten the continued viability of the company," the DOJ noted. Corsa demonstrated that it was unable to disgorge the entire $32.7 million in alleged profits.

Corsa must also keep helping the DOJ's ongoing investigation, which will probably concentrate on anyone thought to have participated in the alleged misbehavior. People are not shielded from prosecution based on a DOJ declination's conclusions.

A request for comment from Corsa was not immediately fulfilled.

A new regulation governing the voluntary self-disclosure of corporate misbehavior was codified by the DOJ last month. The regulation gives businesses more reasons to voluntarily self-disclose, including a higher likelihood of receiving a declination. The DOJ's determination to ensure individual accountability for malfeasance is a major motivator for the revisions.

By fLEXI tEAM