Louis Berger International Pays $17Mln Penalty in Corruption Case

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Louis Berger International (LBI), a New Jersey-based construction management company, has pleaded guilty to international bribery charges and agreed to pay more than $17 million in penalties, the US Department of Justice announced in a press release.

“[The] company admitted to violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and agreed to pay a $17.1 million criminal penalty to resolve charges that it bribed foreign officials in India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Kuwait to secure government construction management contracts,” the release read on Friday.

Two of the company’s former executives, Richard Hirsch, 61, of Makaati, Philippines, and James McClung, 59, of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy and FCPA charges in connection with the scheme, the Justice Department said.

The company entered into a deferred prosecution agreement and agreed to implement rigorous internal controls as well as to retain a compliance monitor for at least three years, the Justice Department explained.

According to admissions in the deferred prosecution agreement and statements in the charging documents, from 1998 through 2010, the company and its employees orchestrated $3.9 million in bribe payments to foreign officials in various countries to secure government contracts, the release said.