Nam Nguyen and his siblings, An Nguyen and Kim Nguyen were sentenced last Thursday for conspiracy to bribe Vietnamese officials and other Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations, reported DoJ. The Nguyens, along with former partner Joseph Lukas, operated Nexus Technologies Inc. — a supplier of “equipment and technology, including underwater mapping equipment, bomb containment equipment, helicopter parts, chemical detectors, satellite communication parts and air tracking systems” to Vietnam. In plea documents, the co-conspirators admitted that for almost ten years “they agreed to pay, and knowingly paid, bribes to Vietnamese government officials in exchange for contracts with the agencies and companies for which the bribe recipients worked.” In addition to their sentences which ranged as high as 16 months plus two-year probationary periods, Nexus “also acknowledged that it operated primarily through criminal means and agreed to cease operations.”

Under the newly-enacted Dodd-Frank Act, FCPA violations are subject to the SEC whistleblower provisions, entitling FCPA whistleblowers to between 10-30% of SEC recoveries for original information prompting “any judicial or administrative action brought by the commission under the securities laws that results in monetary sanctions exceeding $1,000,000.” Historically, FCPA enforcement actions have accounted for some of the SEC’s largest settlements and judgments (e.g., in 2009 KBR paid $402 million in criminal fines; in 2008 Siemens paid $450 million).

To report FCPA violations or other securities fraud, contact Frohsin & Barger.