Foreign Corrupt Practices Act – Cracking Down On Worldwide Corruption

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) was originally introduced in 1977 to reduce the level of corruption taking place in America's corporate business world by making it illegal to bribe foreign officials. It was intended to protect companies and level out the commercial playing field. Corruption and bribery wasn't just taking place in America, however, it was a global problem and in 1998 the United States Congress and 33 other countries united in an attempt to crack down on money laundering and corruption by targeting corrupt political officials and high ranking army officers in an effort to prevent government officials gaining commercial advantages by exploiting their positions.

Bribery To Win Defense Supplies Contract

Although it is fair to say that this Act has played a large part in cutting down on corruption in business, it is still going on. One recent case in July 2011 that came to court in Columbia involved an allegation of corruption by trying to sell $15 million of supplies to the Ministry of National Defense in Gabon. Four defendants were accused of trying to bribe Gabonese officials so that they would win the contract. The government put together its case by using undercover FBI agents who met with the defendants and agreed to go along with the illegal dealings. This case was important because it was the first of many cases waiting to go to trial since the arrest of 22 military and law enforcement executives in 2010 and is the largest prosecution of individuals since the FCPA was enforced over 30 years ago. It was also the first time that undercover techniques, which are usually used in drug cases had been used.

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is a far-reaching piece of American legislation that rattles the corporate chiefs cages globally and stamps down corporate bribery in all its guises. The DOJ (Department of Justice) heads up investigations into all related criminal violations under the Act and the (SEC) Securities and Exchange Commission concentrates on civil violations carried out by US companies. Not only do these organisations investigate acts of corruption that have take place, but they also look into areas where corruption could happen in the future.

Foreign corrupt practices Act – whistleblower protection

The Government realises that it doesn't have sufficient resources to monitor each and every area of business and industry and so it relies heavily on insiders to come forward and report any such violations. Under the qui tam law, whistleblower protection is afforded to any individuals who come forward with information that pertains to fraud against the Government, and in successful cases, the whistleblower may be entitled to a percentage of the monies recovered, somewhere in the region of 10-30%. Since the amount of the bribery needs to involve more than $1 million, it's clear that this is a pretty large monetary incentive.

Any individual who is revealed to be a whistleblower is assured of protection against retaliation from their employer. This means that under no circumstances can they be fired from their jobs, demoted, passed over for promotion, harassed or threatened in any way for having exposed dealings concerning bribery. If this happens, then they may well have recourse and would be entitled to seek damages that could be quite costly to the company.

If you have reason to believe that you have uncovered a violation of the FCPA then the first thing to do is to consult an experienced employment attorney who can listen to your allegations and ascertain whether in fact there is a case to answer. Any attorney worth his salt will offer a free no obligation meeting and will not pressurize you into taking any action unless you wish to do so, and he is pretty confident that there is a good chance of winning such a case.