Ex-Owner of US Consulting Firm Jailed for Bribing Foreign Official

The former owner of a US financial consulting firm was sentenced to five years in jail for bribing an official at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Justice Department said in a press release.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Dmitrij Harder, 45, of Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty on April 20, 2016, to two counts of violating the FCPA, the statement said.

"The former owner and president of Chestnut Consulting Group Inc. and Chestnut Consulting Group Co. (the Chestnut Group) was sentenced to 60 months imprisonment today for bribing an official at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)," the release said Tuesday.

US District Judge Paul Diamond imposed the jail sentence and also ordered Harder to forfeit $1.9 million.

Harder admitted to paying approximately $3,500,000 in bribes to Andrej Ryjenko, an official and senior banker at EBRD, in exchange for Ryjenko referring EBRD clients to Chestnut.

By his own admission, Harder paid the bribes through the Channel Island bank accounts of Ryjenko's sister, Tatjana Sanderson. A British jury convicted both Ryjenko and Sanderson on related corruption offenses in June 2017, and Ryjenko was given a sentence of six years in prison.