On March 14, 2012, BizJet International Sales and Support Inc., a provider of aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services based in Tulsa, Okla., agreed to pay an $11.8 million criminal penalty to settle charges related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for bribing government officials in Latin America to secure contracts to perform aircraft MRO services for government agencies, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division.
On March 14, 202, DOJ filed a one-count criminal information charging BizJet with conspiring to violate the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions and a deferred prosecution agreement in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma.
According to the DOJ documents, BizJet paid bribes to officials employed by the Mexican Policia Federal Preventiva, the Mexican Coordinacion General de Transportes Aereos Presidenciales, the air fleet for the Gobierno del Estado de Sinaloa, the air fleet for the Gobierno del Estado de Sonora and the Republica de Panama Autoridad Aeronautica Civil. In many instances, BizJet paid the bribes directly to the foreign officials. In other instances, BizJet funneled the bribes through a shell company owned and operated by a BizJet sales manager. BizJet executives orchestrated, authorized and approved the unlawful payments.
Under the deferred prosecution agreement with BizJet, the DOJ agreed to defer prosecution of BizJet for three years. In addition to the monetary penalty, BizJet agreed to cooperate with the department in ongoing investigations, to report periodically to the department concerning BizJet’s compliance efforts, and to continue to implement an enhanced compliance program and internal controls designed to prevent and detect FCPA violations. If BizJet abides by the terms of the deferred prosecution agreement, the department will dismiss the criminal information when the agreement’s term expires.
In addition, BizJet’s indirect parent company, Lufthansa Technik AG, itself a German provider of aircraft-related services, entered into an agreement with the department in connection with the unlawful payments by BizJet and its directors, officers, employees and agents. The department has agreed not to prosecute Lufthansa Technik provided that Lufthansa Technik satisfies its obligations under the agreement for a period of three years. Those obligations include ongoing cooperation and the continued implementation of rigorous internal controls.